


Growing Up

by shewritesall



Series: Growing Up [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Dad!Tony, Dad!Tony Stark, Growing Up, Parent Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2019-05-07 16:00:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 41
Words: 39,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14674524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shewritesall/pseuds/shewritesall
Summary: These are just a bunch of one shots condensed into one book about Peter growing up being raised by Tony Stark.  You can read them in order or not.*no longer accepting request*





	1. 4 Years Old

“I have child services here for you, Tony,”  Pepper said. Tony looked up from his desk with a frown.  What? Pepper opened the door wider, allowing an older woman followed by a young boy into the room.  Pepper mouthed ‘good luck’ then left the room. The older woman took a seat in one of the chairs in front of Tony’s desk then motioned for the little boy to sit as well.  

“Mr. Stark, I’m Miranda Henley and I’ve been assigned to your son,”  the woman said, gesturing to the boy. Tony blinked, glancing at the brown haired kid playing with two action figures.  “Peter’s mother recently passed away and didn’t leave a will. As is custom, we did a biological test on Peter and you popped up as his father,”  Miranda told him. Peter made a _whoosh_ sound as he made one of the action figures fly through the air.  As the two collided, he happily made a _boom_ sound.  Miranda gave him a look and his ears turned red.  He sunk back in his seat and sat very still. Tony frowned.  

“I’ve never met Peter before,”  Tony said, keeping his eyes on the little boy curled up on the chair, staring at the ground sadly.  Miranda didn’t seem bothered by Peter’s actions, choosing to ignore him entirely and focus on Tony.

“He’s a very nice kid, I’m sure you two will get along very well,”  Miranda said. Her comment sounded empty as she shuffled through her papers.  

“You don’t have to have me if you don’t want, Mr. Stark, sir,”  Peter said quietly. Miranda just rolled her eyes and continued looking for her paper.  

“He’s having trouble realizing his mother is dead,”  Miranda told Tony. Peter sunk even lower in his chair if that was possible.  “I recommend a mental health therapist. Usually young children take longer to understand what happened.”  

“No!”  Peter exclaimed.  “I know what happened!  A truck hit her and she’s dead.  She’s never coming back,” Peter said.  He looked like he was about to cry, but Miranda simply glared at him for his outburst.  “I’m not stupid!”

“Peter Benjamin--”  

“It’s okay, Mandy,”  Tony said, holding out a hand to shut her up.  Miranda looked surprised at his outburst as she pulled out her desired paper.  “I understand, Peter. My parents died when I was pretty young and everyone thought I didn’t understand, but I did.”  Peter watched Tony closely, his face blank.

“If you sign here, Mr. Stark, you will officially have custody of Peter and he will no longer be under my care,”  Miranda said, passing him a paper. Tony flinched away from it and patted his desk.

“I don’t like being handed things,”  he explained. Miranda slid the paper across the desk to him and Tony pulled out his pen to sign it before he hesitated.  Sure, he was trying to right all his past wrongs, but should he really be adopting a child? “Just a minute,” he said. Miranda was about to object when Tony called for Pepper to come in.  

Pepper stepped into the office, smiling warmly at Peter who grinned back.  Tony took that as a good sign. He was definitely not adopting a kid if the kid didn’t like Pepper.  

“Yes, Tony?”  she asked. She stood next to Peter’s chair, handing him a candy from Tony’s desk.  Peter hurried to unwrap it and pop it in his mouth, obviously much happier now that Pepper was in the room.  Tony couldn’t help but feel the same way.

“Marissa here thinks I should adopt Peter,”  Tony said, leaning back in his chair. Pepper glanced at Peter who gave her another grin.  Now that his attention wasn’t on Miranda, the kid seemed a lot more at ease, Tony noted. “What do you think?”  he asked. Pepper looked at Peter for a few seconds and he sat perfectly still, knowing she was about to make the decision for Tony.  Despite what he had said earlier, Peter really wanted Tony to take him in. Having a dad would be pretty neat. All the other kids had one and he’d always wanted one.  

“I think you should try it out for a week and if you think it’s a good idea, sign the papers,”  Pepper suggested. Tony nodded, turning his chair to face Miranda.

“We’ll do as Miss Potts says,”  he told her.


	2. 6 Years Old

Peter was excited to say the least.  Not only had he just turned six two days ago, but today was the first day of school.  Now that he was a full six years old, he couldn't wait to start school.  Tony, on the other hand, could definitely wait a few years.  He'd only had the kid for two years, but Peter had quickly grown on him.  He didn't even last the entire week before calling Miranda back up to adopt Peter.  Pepper was neither surprised nor disappointed.  

"Come on, Daddy!  Let's go!"  Peter yelled, running into the living room.  Tony was pouring cereal for Peter at the counter while Peter zipped around the living room, dive rolling on the couches and jumping from chair to couch.  When Tony looked up from the cereal bowl to see Peter leap from one couch to his big chair, he almost dropped the milk.  Peter squealed in delight as he landed on the chair and quickly stood to jump back back on the couch.  

"Alright, Pete!"  Tony said, racing over to catch Peter mid jump.  Peter giggled loudly, latching onto Tony's arm happily as Tony set him back on the ground.  "Go eat breakfast."  He gave Peter a gentle push towards the counter and Peter was off.  He almost fell off the counter stool as he clambered up onto it and began devouring his breakfast.  He was nearly finished when Pepper walked in.  Immediately, Peter forgot about his breakfast and ran to hug her around the legs.  Pepper wobbled only a bit before smiling down at Peter.  

"Hey, bud,"  she said.  She stopped herself as she reached to pick him up.  Peter had insisted the day of his sixth birthday that he was too old to be picked up like a baby.  "Are you ready for school?"  Pepper asked, reaching to ruffle his hair instead.  Peter pushed her hand off his head and nodded.  

"No,"  Tony interjected, grabbing him from behind and taking him back to his breakfast.  He set him back on his stool and pointed to the bowl of half finished cereal.  "Finish breakfast then we leave."  Peter continued scarfing down his cereal then jumped off the stool a minute later.  Tony sent him to brush his teeth and get his brand new backpack while he talked to Pepper.  "Does he really have to start school?  He can wait another year, right?"  he asked.  Pepper laughed and brushed his hair off his forehead.  

"He's already going to be way ahead of his grade,"  Pepper said.  "Nothing against you, but I think he would hate it if you kept him here."  Tony sighed.  

"I know,"  he replied.  "But--"  

"No but's about it,"  Pepper interrupted.  "Besides, he wants to make friends."  Tony was about to interject but Pepper hushed him and continued.  "Friends his own age."  Before Tony could respond, Peter came bounding back into the room, backpack on his shoulders as he crashed into Tony's legs, throwing his arms around them.  

"Can we go now, Daddy?"  Peter asked.  Tony smiled down at him and nodded, scooping Peter up in his arms.  Maybe Peter still let Tony carry him around, but neither Pepper nor Tony were about to remind him that 'big boys don't need to be carried'.  

* * *

When they arrived at the nearby elementary school, Peter was the first out of the car.  He was jumping around happily as Tony opened the passenger door for Pepper.  Peter grabbed both Tony and Pepper's hands, skipping between them as they walked towards the school.  Tony smiled down at Peter, then gave Pepper a look she understood perfectly.  She gave him an encouraging smile as they walked through the front doors.  

Peter seemed overwhelmed as soon they walked into the large building.  Other kids, older kids, stood in the halls talking and almost no one had their parents with them.  Peter immediately felt embarrassed to be the only kid with his Dad.  It didn't help when kids looked their direction and began whispering about Mr. Stark being at the school and oh my gosh, is that Stark's kid?  Peter grabbed Tony's hand tighter as they continued down the hall to the first grade classroom he was going to be in.  When he noticed all the other first graders had their parents there, he felt a little less embarrassed.  

"Welcome to first grade!"  the teacher exclaimed.  She did a double take when she recognized Tony, but quickly recovered.  "I'm Miss Emily.  Who are you?"  Tony held back a scoff.  As if the teacher hadn't checked her roster and immediately committed the name 'Peter Stark' to memory.  

"Peter,"  Peter whispered.  Miss Emily leaned closer and Peter buried his face in Tony's leg.  

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear,"  she said.  

"His name is Peter,"  Pepper told her.  Miss Emily smiled and nodded, stepping back enough that Peter felt it was safe to come out of hiding.  

"Well, you can go claim a cubby to put your backpack in then join the others on the carpet,"  Miss Emily told Peter with a smile.  Peter didn't relax his grip on Tony's hand, staying close to his side.  "If you want, your Daddy can go with you,"  Miss Emily said.  Peter looked up at Tony hopefully who nodded.  

"Come on, kid,"  Tony said.  Peter let go of Pepper's hand and walked with Tony across the room to put away his backpack.  Pepper stayed by the door, watching as Tony squatted down to say goodbye to Peter.  Peter threw his arms around Tony's neck and refused to let go.  "Hey, hey, buddy,"  Tony said, pulling back from Peter who had tears forming in his eyes.  "Don't do that, Pete.  You're gonna be fine,"  Tony said.  Peter sniffled and Tony took a moment to remind himself he was doing this for Peter, he couldn't let him back out and go home now.  "Pep and I will be back at exactly noon to pick you back up, but you won't want to leave because school is going to be so much fun,"  Tony told him.  

"Promise?"  Peter asked, wiping his face and holding out his pinky.  Tony smiled and linked their pinkies together, shaking them.  

"Promise,"  he replied.  Peter sniffled again then hugged Tony tightly.  When he pulled away, he raced over to hug Pepper goodbye.  She smiled and knelt down to hug him better.  

"You'll have fun,"  she said.  Peter nodded against her shoulder then pulled back as Tony joined them.  He hugged Pepper once more then hugged Tony again.  

"I love you, Daddy,"  he said, voice muffled by Tony's shoulder.  Tony patted his back then pulled back.  

"I love you too, buddy."  


	3. 7 Years Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a cute, short little one-shot of 7 year old Peter being absolutely adorable and (in Tony's opinion) a little bit reckless.

"Mr. Stark?"  someone asked.  Tony looked up from his desk to see one of his (or at least he hoped they were) employees standing in the doorway.  "There's a kid downstairs claiming your his father...?"  Tony frowned.  What was Peter doing here?  "I tried sending him away, but he insisted if I brought you down or at least talked to you, you would say the same,"  the man said.  Tony sighed and put down his pen.  At the very least, Happy should have been with Peter, having picked him up from school.  

"You didn't just ask Happy?"  Tony asked.  The man in the doorway frowned and shook his head.  

"Mr. Hogan didn't arrive with him,"  he answered.  "The kid showed up on his own."  At that, Tony stood abruptly and all but shoved the man out of his office.  He raced into the elevator, tapping his foot impatiently as he rode it down to the ground floor.  Happy should have picked up Peter.  Why was Peter here alone and why was he earlier than if Happy had gone to get him?  As if knowing he was being thought about, Happy's caller ID lit up Tony's phone.  Tony answered immediately and demanded to know what happened.  

"I don't know,"  Happy replied.  "I arrived at the school to pick him up but his teachers said he had left early."  Tony groaned, told Happy to get back to the tower in five minutes (which he knew was impossible), then hung up.  The elevator doors opened as Tony pocketed his phone.  Just like the man had told him upstairs, Peter was sitting in the reception area on one of the couches.  His backpack was in his lap and his head was buried into it.  Tony saw his shoulders shake slightly and knew he was crying.  

"Peter?"  Tony asked.  Peter's head snapped up and Tony rushed over to kneel down in front of his kid.  Peter wiped his nose as tears continued down his face.  As soon as Tony was close enough, Peter threw himself into his arms and began sobbing.  Worried, Tony carefully picked up the little boy and walked over to the receptionist.  She was staring at them, obviously shocked the young boy had been telling the truth.  "You see this kid again and you send him straight up to my office,"  Tony told her.  The girl nodded hastily and Tony turned to get back on the elevator.  He rode it to the very top where the penthouse was then carried Peter into the living room.  He had calmed down some, but Tony could tell he was definitely still upset.  "Alright, what happened, buddy?"  Tony asked, setting his backpack on the floor then sitting on the couch with Peter in his lap.  Peter sniffled then quietly explained what had happened.  

"Some of the big kids were being mean to me,"  he answered.  "They said I was stupid and annoying then they laughed at me when I started to cry and I just wanted to go home, but Happy wasn't there yet so I took the subway after a nice lady paid for me and helped me."  Tony was definitely shocked to hear his kid had left school on his own accord.  He had never ridden a subway since Tony had had him so how he had found it, Tony had no idea.  

"Peter--"  Peter cut him off with another sniffle.  

"I know it was bad but I missed you and they were being really mean,"  Peter cried.  With a quiet voice, Peter said, "I don't want to go back."  Tony felt his heart shatter as Peter began to sob again and pulled Peter closer to his chest.  He ran his fingers through Peter's hair and hugged him tightly.  

"I'm sorry, kiddo,"  Tony whispered.  Once Peter calmed down again, Tony continued.  "I know school sucks and people can be really mean, but you can't just leave like that.  You gave me and Happy a heart attack.  Next time, just tell the teacher and she'll deal with it."  Peter sniffled again and Tony rubbed his back.  

"My teacher's a boy,"  Peter said, voice muffled against Tony's shirt.  Tony chuckled and Peter giggled too, causing Tony's smile to grow.  

"Of course he is,"  Tony replied.  


	4. 8 Years Old

Tony had no idea how this could have gone so wrong.  This was supposed to be a simple in-and-out mission.  Just get the guy and leave.  He was supposed to be home 9 days, 17 hours, and 23 minutes ago and Peter knew that.  Tony hadn't even been able to call Pepper and warn her the mission was going to be longer before it was too late to call.  He knew both Peter and Pepper were probably freaking out and he could hardly sit still on the quinjet as they flew back to New York.  Steve had volunteered to debrief Fury, so Tony had every intention of shooting off towards Stark Tower as soon as they touched down.  He hadn't even changed out of his suit.  

No one said anything as they touched down.  Natasha silently helped Clint to his feet, leading him off the quinjet to medical while Tony limped out of the quinjet in his suit.  Steve groaned as he stood, but walked off the quinjet with only a little pain.  Banner went with him to debrief Fury.  Once Tony was clear of the quinjet, he told JARVIS to take him home, not having the energy to fly himself.  The flight back to the tower wouldn't be more than five minutes, but Tony wanted to save all his energy for when he finally got to see Peter again.  

* * *

"Pepper?"  a quiet voice asked.  Pepper glanced up from her Stark tablet to see a small person peeking around the corner from the hall.  She smiled at Peter who took that as a sign to tear across the living room, nose diving onto the couch by Pepper.  He crawled close to her, laying his head in her lap and wrapping himself up in his Iron Man blanket.  Pepper set aside her Stark pad and looked down at Peter who was lying on his back, looking up at her with a sad expression.  She gave him a small, sad smile and began to comb through his hair with her fingers.  

"Hey, Peter,"  she said quietly.  She knew what was wrong.  It was the same thing that had been wrong for the past ten days, ever since Tony left for his short mission.  "Daddy will be here very soon.  He just told me he's almost done, just finishing up some things,"  Pepper lied easily.  She had quickly discovered it was the only way to calm the little boy down.  If he knew she hadn't heard any more from Tony than Peter had, he would panic and begin to worry Tony had died just like his mom.  

"Why does he never talk to me?"  Peter asked in a small voice.  Pepper's breath caught at how heartbroken Peter sounded and she shook her head.  

"You're busy with school,"  Pepper answered.  "He wants you to get a good education and he wanted me to tell you he loves you so, so much."  Peter nodded and turned on his side.  

"Do you think he'll come home tonight?"  Peter asked, pulling his blanket over his shoulder and getting comfortable on Pepper's lap.  Pepper continued threading her fingers through his soft hair.  

"Maybe,"  Pepper replied.  Peter didn't respond, but she knew he wasn't asleep.  He wouldn't sleep again until either Tony return or the lack of sleep caused him to pass out.  

* * *

When Tony got a call from Fury half way to the tower, he had to wait for a few seconds before he could answer it calmly.  Fury knew he was going home as soon as they got back, but he still requested Tony come in and tell him exactly what had happened to Clint since only Natasha and Tony had been there to see the accident.  As it turned out, Natasha refused to leave Clint's side so it fell on Tony to report to Fury.  

"You can do it now and be done in ten minutes or I can come interrupt your day tomorrow,"  Fury said.  Tony took a deep breath and regained control of the suit himself.  He turned around and shot towards SHIELD.  

"I'm giving my story then leaving, Fury,"  Tony gritted out.  The last thing he wanted was Fury keeping him at SHIELD longer than necessary.  

"I wouldn't expect anything else,"  Fury replied before hanging up.  Needless to say, Tony was everything but polite when answering Fury's persistent questions and then writing down his story.  It definitely took him more than 10 minutes.  It was nearly thirty minutes when Tony dropped the pen, turned, and walked out of the office without a word.  Fury didn't bother stopping him, letting him fly back to the tower in peace.  

* * *

Peter had been asleep for barely five minutes.  He'd tried staying awake with Pepper on the couch, but eventually he couldn't hold out any longer.  Pepper didn't stop running her fingers through his hair, though, even as she struggled to type on the Stark tablet.  She was mid-yawn when JARVIS spoke up, causing her to jump and wake up Peter who whimpered as he sat up.  

"Mr. Stark has returned to the tower,"  JARVIS announced.  Peter was rubbing his eyes when he processed what JARVIS had said.  He was wide awake seconds later and racing towards the balcony with Pepper close behind him.  Tony had just gotten out of the suit when Peter collided with his arms.  

"Daddy!"  Peter screamed, jumping forward and hugging Tony tightly.  Tony picked Peter up (he was still pretty small for his age) and hugged him back just as tightly.  Peter started crying and Tony kissed his cheek.  "I was scared you weren't coming back,"  Peter said, wiping his face.  Tony set Peter on the ground but kept one arm around Peter as he leaned forward to hug Pepper.  She looked relieved to see him again as well, but thankfully she didn't start crying like Peter did.  

"Sorry I'm late, kiddo,"  Tony said, hugging him again.  Peter latched onto Tony's hand and refused to let go.  "Hey, aren't you supposed to be in bed?"  Tony asked, glancing at his watch to discover it was nearly midnight.  

"I had a bad dream so I came out to Pepper,"  Peter mumbled.  Tony rubbed Peter's back and looked up at Pepper.  He knew this wasn't the first time it had happened since he disappear based on the look she gave him.  

"Alright,"  Tony said.  "Well, Daddy's home now, so how about we all have a big sleepover?"  Peter jumped at the idea and quickly scooped up his Iron Man blanket from where he had dropped it when jumping for Tony.  Tony carried Peter (who was wrapped tightly in his blanket) all the way to his bedroom with Pepper close behind.  Tony tossed Peter on the bed then crawled in beside him.  Immediately, Peter curled up against Tony with a big smile.  Pepper slid in behind Peter and rubbed his back.  Peter turned to smile at her, but remained closest to Tony.  

"I'm glad you're back, Daddy,"  Peter said.  Tony nodded and reached for Pepper's hand across Peter who was happily laying between them.  "It's scary when you're gone."  Tony frowned and looked down at Peter.  

"How so?"  he asked.  

"No one to fight the bad guys if they come to get us,"  Peter told him.  Tony smiled.  

"Don't worry, kiddo,"  he replied.  "Even if I'm not here to fight the bad guys, all it takes is one call and I'm headed your way."  Peter nodded as his eyes slipped closed.  Tony pulled Peter closer to him and Peter took a deep breath, getting even closer to Tony if that was possible.  "Go to sleep, buddy.  I love you."  

"Love you too,"  Peter sleepily responded before falling asleep.  


	5. 10 Years Old: Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! This is going to be a multiple chapter mini story.

Peter was turning ten.  Double digits meant double the party, as Tony had put it.  As soon as Peter had presented his idea, though, Tony had tried to disagree.  Of course, Peter was successful in getting his birthday wish when he begged Tony with tears in his eyes, promising to 'never ever, ever ask for anything like this again!  Pretty please?'.  Tony knew he needed to get better at saying no, but he also knew he had no hope in turning Peter down if it meant the kid was teary eyed and making impossible promises.  

"Ready to go, Pete?"  Tony called.  Pepper had begun to bug him about missing meetings and Tony wanted to leave before she could bring up anything else this would interfere with.  

"Tony, you need--"  

"Pep, I need to go with my son on his tenth birthday,"  Tony interrupted.  Pepper rolled her eyes and glanced down at her phone calendar.  "You're CEO.  Tell 'em I'm sick or better yet, tell 'em I'm dead."  Pepper gave him a look and Tony turned away from her.  Before she could object to the trip any more, Peter came hurrying down the hall, tugging his suitcase behind him.  Tony reached down and tried to pick it up for him, but Peter insisted he could do it himself.  

"Bye, Pepper!"  Peter said, waving at the red head who stood behind Tony.  Pepper smiled and waved back, watching as Tony and Peter headed towards the launch pad where the Stark Jet was waiting.  

Tony helped load Peter's luggage onto the plane then followed him on board.  The first flight wouldn't be that long; they were just going to drop by the Avenger's compound to pick up the others.  An easy seven minute flight.  Once they had all the others' luggage on board and Peter was happily situated between Steve and Natasha, they took off for the three hour flight to Orlando.  

"So Peter, how's school been?"  Steve asked.  Peter shrugged, kicking his legs underneath his seat to keep moving.  Tony had debated getting the kid tested for ADHD, but he knew how much Peter hated doctors and everything that went with them.  They reminded him too much of when his mom had died even if he had been only four at the time.  

"It's okay,"  Peter answered.  Tony paid attention as Peter told Steve how he liked classes, but other kids made fun of him for it.  "It's okay, though, because Daddy says they're just jealous I'm smart and they're not.  He also said that when I'm older, when I'm in high school, he'll let me go to the smart kids' school in Creens."  

"Queens,"  Tony corrected.  Peter glanced at Tony with pink cheeks and nodded before corrected himself.  "You told me the mean kids had stopped bothering you,"  Tony said.  Peter shrugged again, picking at the seat until he looked up and saw Tony still watching him.  

"They did, but then they started picking on Ned so I had to stop them,"  Peter explained.  Tony sighed but wasn't too surprised Peter was now willingly being bullied to help out his friend.  

"Well, let's not think about bad things today,"  Natasha suggested, running a hand through Peter's hair.  Peter grinned up at her then pulled his Stark tablet out of his pre-packed entertainment bag.  

"We should play a game!"  Peter said.  He unlocked his tablet and opened up the game Head's Up.  "Since I'm the birthday boy, I get to go first."  No one argued with him as he put the tablet to his head and scooted back so that even Natasha and Steve could read the tablet.  Thank goodness Tony had paid for all the extra add-ons because they definitely needed them.  

* * *

Arriving at Disney World was more chaotic than it needed to be.  They had arrived in a large SUV in order to fit everyone and as soon as Tony had pulled up to the parking permit booth, he knew they were in for a very long trip.  The man in the booth talked for nearly ten minutes about how much he admired Tony before handing Tony his parking permit for the week.  Tony begrudgingly took it and tossed it on the dashboard.  He pulled forward and parked the SUV in the closest spot he could find (which wasn't very close).  As soon as the car had found its spot, Peter was unbuckling his seat belt and trying to get to the door.  He had been pushed in the very back with Clint while Steve and Natasha got the middle seats and Bruce got shot-gun.  Bruce had almost not come, not wanting to become stressed and Hulk-out, but Peter promised to make sure that didn't happen and that as soon as he felt overwhelmed, he could disappear ("don't worry, Bruce, it won't hurt my feelings").  

"Alright, everybody out,"  Tony called as he turned off the car.  Natasha opened her door and Peter jumped out of the car.  Natasha followed him out while Steve went to get his backpack from the trunk.  He'd had the foresight to pack a backpack containing snacks, sunscreen, and even an extra jacket for Peter who was sure to get cold if they stayed past dark.  

"Can we go find Mickey Mouse first?"  Peter asked, grabbing for Natasha's hand and holding it with both of his.  Natasha looked down at him and smiled as Clint tumbled out from the backseat onto the cement parking lot.  Peter glanced at Clint, momentarily concerned, then looked back up at Tony.  

"We'll see when he's making appearances,"  Tony answered.  He grabbed his wallet and shoved it in his pocket.  "I'm going to go purchase our tickets and fast passes,"  he told Bruce.  He then turned to Peter.  "Stay with Tasha,"  he instructed.  Peter nodded, giving Tony a salute.  Tony grinned and headed into the park to buy the passes they would need.  He had called in earlier to see if he could pre-purchase them and after promising to pay double, the employee had promised to have them ready for him.  

"Peter?  Come get sunscreen,"  Steve said, pulling the bottle out of his backpack.  He squeezed some sunscreen on his hand then motioned for Peter to come over.  Peter reluctantly went over to Steve who handed the sunscreen to Natasha.  After Steve had thoroughly covered Peter's arms, face, neck, and legs with sunscreen, he let Peter go.  Natasha handed Steve the sunscreen after she had used some as well and Steve returned it to his backpack.  Peter grabbed Natasha's hand once again and after making sure everyone was set, they headed into the park after Tony.  


	6. 10 Years Old: Part 2

Tony met the team and Peter right outside the gate, handing them each their passes but keeping Peter's.  After Peter declared he wanted to hold it until they got through the gate, Tony hesitantly handed Peter's pass the him.  Peter held onto it tightly, making sure not to let go of it and accidentally lose it.  The last thing he needed was to get to the gate only to find out he couldn't get in.  

As soon as they were through the gates, Tony took Peter's pass back and put it in Steve's backpack.  Peter didn't need to be reminded to stay nearby once they got swept away by the crowd.  His grip on Natasha's hand became iron and he was practically glued to her leg as they walked.  They were walking through main street when the first person recognized them.  The crowd surrounding them became thicker and Bruce disappeared.  Peter held onto Natasha and whimpered as people crowded around him.  Natasha glanced down at Peter and tugged on Clint's arm.  Clint looked down at Peter only briefly before scooping him up on his arms.  

"Better, buddy?"  Clint asked.  Peter nodded, glad to be out of the crowd.  Tony managed to get the crowd to leave them after a while and they were once again making their way through the park.  

"How'd you get up there?"  Tony asked, looking at Peter on Clint's shoulders.  Peter grinned.  

"Uncle Clint picked me up,"  he answered.  Tony just nodded, not surprised in the least.  "Can we go find Mickey Mouse now?"  

"Sure, kiddo,"  Tony said.  He glanced at the map he had managed to snag at the front gates and looked at it for a moment.  "This way!"  he exclaimed, leading them off in the direction Mickey Mouse was supposed to be.  

* * *

They arrived back at their hotel late that night.  They had stayed for almost all the night-time shows and returned to their rooms around 11:00 at night.  Peter had fallen asleep on the car back so Steve carried him up to the hotel room.  Tony had rented out three rooms, two adjoined and one right across the hall.  Steve laid Peter in the single bed in Tony's room then quietly said goodnight and walked through the joint door into his and Bruce's room.  Clint and Natasha muttered a goodnight before walking into their room across the hall.  Tony changed out of his clothes and into his pajamas before crawling into bed beside Peter.  

"Daddy?"  Peter muttered, eyes still closed.  Tony flicked off them lamp and pulled the covers over them.  

"Yeah, buddy,"  Tony said, pulling Peter closer to him.  "Did you have a good day?"  he whispered.  

"Mmm,"  Peter hummed in confirmation.  Tony smiled and let Peter fall back asleep.  

* * *

The week they spent at Disney World was what Peter said to be the best week ever.  Sure, school was starting in two days and his birthday was actually the day they were flying back to New York, but Peter didn't mind.  He couldn't stop talking about it all the way back to New York.  Instead of going straight to the Tower after dropping the others at the compound, Tony and Peter decided to stay for a while at the compound.  It didn't last long, though, since everyone was tired and Peter was fast asleep five minutes after sitting on the couch by Steve.  Tony called Happy to come pick them up and they were soon on their way back to the tower.  

Pepper met Tony in the penthouse living room.  When she saw Peter fast asleep in Tony's arms, she decided to wait just a bit longer before yelling at Tony for all he had missed.  Tony took his time tucking Peter in his bed (even if it was only 3:00 in the afternoon) then returned to Pepper.  Of course, she had loads of papers for him to sign and needed his opinion on many things, but as soon as she was done, she left.  Tony was gratefully and immediately retreated to his room.  The week at Disney World had been fun, but it had also been exhausting.  


	7. 12 Years Old

Peter arrived at the tower not at all surprised to see it empty.  Pepper had warned him that Tony was out on a mission and she was still in Malibu.  Tony would be back in time for dinner, Pepper had said, so maybe get some take-out or something.  Peter had told JARVIS to order pizza when Tony was fifteen minutes away from the tower.  With the food set up, Peter decided to hang out in his room until Tony returned.  JARVIS was more than willing to play his favorite playlist while he studied as long as Peter continued to study.  

"Hey JARVIS?"  Peter asked, glancing up from his homework.  

"Yes?"  JARVIS replied.  Peter tapped his pencil on his paper, debating whether or not he should ask JARVIS his question.  "Would you like to know when Mr.  Stark is returning?"  JARVIS asked.  Peter felt his face heat up but nodded nonetheless.  

"But don't tell him I asked!"  Peter told him.  

"Mr. Stark will be returning in about an hour,"  JARVIS said.  "And I did not tell him you asked."  Peter grinned happily as JARVIS continued playing his music.  His dad would be home soon and Peter definitely couldn't wait.  

* * *

Tony had the suit on autopilot.  His energy was almost nonexistent and he ached all over.  The last thing he wanted to focus on was flying back home even if it meant he could see Peter again.  He'd only been gone for about 48 hours, but he knew how much Peter didn't like him going on missions.  They had a tradition that had been set up when Peter was about 8 years old and panicked a lot when Tony left.  Whenever Tony returned from a mission, they would order pizza and marathon Star Wars late until the night.  If Peter had school the next day, they would do it on the weekend.  Tonight was one of the nights Tony wished was a school night because he really didn't want Peter to meet him on the landing pad.  He knew what he looked like under the suit and he definitely didn't want Peter to see how beat up he was.  

"Hey, J?"  Tony asked.  "Where's Peter?"  He was only about five minutes from the tower and didn't want to run into Peter.  Hopefully the kid was asleep, but with Tony's luck, he wouldn't be.  Besides, what kid would be asleep at nearly 7:00 in the night when his dad wasn't home?

"Peter is currently in his room,"  JARVIS responded.  When Tony asked what he was doing, JARVIS told him, "Sleeping."  

"Great,"  Tony said.  "Don't tell him I'm coming.  Leave him asleep." 

* * *

Peter glanced at his watch.  JARVIS had said Tony was fifteen minutes away twelve minutes ago.  Peter had set the pizza on the coffee table and already selected the original first Star Wars movie (episode 4 because Tony was very particular about the order and Peter had come to be as well).  Waiting on the landing pad had never felt like such a long time.  When he was sure it had been more than three minutes, Peter glanced at his watch again.  It had been seven minutes and Tony hadn't landed.  Frowning, Peter walked inside the penthouse.  Maybe Tony had entered through the lab.  But that would mean the Iron Man suit had taken a beating.  With that thought, Peter raced downstairs to the lab to make sure his dad wasn't injured.  

Peter scanned his hand as he burst into the lab, but stopped short.  Tony was stumbling out of the Iron Man suit covered in blood.  His forehead had a long cut and his nose was evidently broken.  That wasn't the worst of it, though.  Tony was limping, obviously in pain from his leg and his arm looked pretty busted up too.  

"Dad?"  Peter whispered.  Tony's head shot up at Peter's voice and his face dropped.  

"Kid?  JARVIS said you were asleep,"  Tony said.  Peter stared wide-eyed at Tony, not sure what to do.  Usually Pepper or Steve or someone else was around to help Tony whenever he got hurt, but now there was no one and Peter had never seen his dad so hurt.  

"I told him to tell you that,"  Peter replied.  "I was gonna surprise you.  Are you gonna die?"  Peter blurted, tears pooling in his eyes.  Tony shook his head quickly, limping as fast as he could over to Peter.  

"No, buddy,"  he said, running a hand through Peter's hair.  "No, I'm gonna be okay.  But I need you to call Bruce and have him come over to help fix me up."  

"Okay,"  Peter said.  He raced out of the lab and took the elevator down to Bruce's room.  Against his better judgement, Peter exited the elevator screaming.  "Uncle Bruce!  Uncle Bruce!  You have to come quick!"  he yelled, tears starting down his face.  Bruce hurried into the main room, dressed in sweat pants and a t-shirt.  

"What's wrong, Peter?"  he asked.  Peter beckoned for Bruce to join him in the elevator and Bruce did without question.  Although he didn't like elevators, the kid sounded very distraught.  

"Dad's hurt,"  Peter cried.  "He came back from a mission and he's really, really hurt and it's scary.  Is he gonna die?"  Peter talked so fast Bruce had to focus hard to understand him.  

"No, Dad's gonna be fine,"  Bruce promised.  They got off the elevator and Peter ran down the stairs with Bruce close behind.  They ran into the lab to see Tony slumped in a chair.  Peter's crying increased and Bruce hurried to Tony's side.  Tony was unconscious.  "JARVIS, call someone to take care of Peter,"  Bruce said, moving to pick up Tony.  "And tell medical I need them to be ready in five minutes."  

* * *

Peter was curled up on Natasha's lap in the living room.  She was the first to leave after getting the message as Steve and Sam were at the theater and Clint was busy training in the shooting range.  She didn't mind coming to be with Peter, though.  It had been about a week since she's last seen him and sure, she didn't like that the terms weren't the happiest, but at least she knew how to handle him when he was upset.  

Bruce had taken his dad down to medical nearly two hours ago and Natasha had arrived five minutes after the two men had disappeared.  She had taken Peter back upstairs and turned on a movie, but Peter couldn't pay attention.  As if she could sense this, Natasha started telling him a story.  It wasn't completely real, Natasha left out the parts about the Red Room, but Peter seemed happy enough listening to her adventures dancing ballet all over the world.  

"Auntie Tasha?  Have you ever been to France?"  Peter interrupted.  Natasha nodded, smiling down at Peter.  "Was it pretty?"  

"It was beautiful,"  Natasha answered.  And it had been.  It was one of the few missions she'd had with James and one of the very few that she could honestly say she enjoyed.  "James and I were there just to pick up something for our boss."  

"Like Mr. Fury?"  Peter asked.  Natasha nodded.  

"Like Mr. Fury,"  she confirmed.  Ivan had never been as good as Fury, but she didn't want to tell Peter about how awful Ivan had been to everyone in the Red Room.  "How about we head to bed, Peter?  Dad will be done in the morning,"  she told him, reaching for the remote and turning off the TV.  It had been playing credits for quite a while and to be honest, the music was beginning to irritate her.  

"Will you stay with me?  I might have nightmares,"  Peter told her.  Natasha promised she would and they both headed to Peter's room.  Peter turned on his nightlight then jumped on his bed.  He patted the space beside him then squirmed down in the blankets.  Natasha crawled in beside him and let him curl up next to her.  "Will Daddy be okay?"  Peter whispered.  Natasha ran her fingers through Peter's hair and kissed his forehead.  

"Yeah,"  she assured him.  "He'll be fine."  

And he was.  The next morning, Peter had spotted Tony laying on the couch covered in bandages.  It didn't matter to either one of them that Tony was still in pain when Peter jumped in his arms.  They spent the rest of the day marathoning Star Wars and eating pizza just like they always did.  And Tony would be lying if he said he didn't think it sped up the healing process whenever he was with Peter.  


	8. 14 Years Old

"Peter has just returned from school,"  FRIDAY announced.  Tony didn't even glance up from the suit he was working on, not surprised by FRIDAY's announcement.  

"Tell him I'm in the lab,"  Tony said.  He continued to work on his project, expecting Peter to come running down to the lab at any moment, but he didn't.  After Tony was sure FRIDAY had told Peter where he was, he set down his tools and got up from where he had been working.  Peter had been on a field trip all day and Tony knew the kid would want to tell him all about it.  Why Peter hadn't come running down to the lab remained a mystery to Tony.  Perhaps he had come home hungry.  Tony headed up the stairs from the lab, leaving it unlocked but telling FRIDAY to turn off his music.    

Peter dropped his backpack by his bed then collapsed on top of his blankets.  He groaned when he bounced back up and buried his face in his pillow.  Oscorp had been cool, but Peter felt like absolute trash.  Ever since he'd been bitten by that stupid spider, he'd felt sick.  Maybe he was allergic to spiders.  He'd have to ask FRIDAY to run some scans.  However, that would have to wait until the world wasn't abnormally loud and he felt like vomiting.  

"Peter?"  Tony called.  Peter covered his ears, irritated with his dad for yelling when he was close enough to talk normally.  When he looked towards his doorway, though, he discovered Tony wasn't there.  Frowning, Peter slowly sat up.  Why had his dad sounded so close?  "Hey, FRI?  Where's Peter?"  

"Peter is in his bedroom,"  FRIDAY answered.  Peter laid back down on his bed as he heard his dad's footsteps coming towards his room.  When Tony peered into Peter's bedroom and saw him face down on his bed, he knew something was wrong.  

"Hey, kid,"  Tony said quietly.  "You feeling okay?"  Peter groaned in response and Tony frowned.  "What's up?"  

"I feel like trash,"  Peter mumbled.  Confused, Tony sat down on the bed beside Peter and asked for a better description.  "I don't know.  Everything's really loud and my head hurts."  Tony felt Peter's forehead after the kid rolled onto his back and frowned.  Peter was definitely warm.  

"You're probably getting sick,"  Tony said.  He stood up from the bed and turned to look down at Peter.  "I'll bring you some medicine.  Try and sleep it off."  Peter nodded and was already half asleep as Tony left the room.  

* * *

When Peter woke up, he was confused.  Everything was still very loud, but now he was used to it.  He sat up and noticed the cold medicine by his bed.  However, he didn't feel very sick anymore, just... strange.  Peter stood up and walked towards the door. 

"Good afternoon, Peter,"  FRIDAY greeted.  Peter jumped, not having expected FRIDAY to start talking.  When he looked at where he was, though, his eyes widened.  He was stuck to the wall.  Peter happened to know for a fact that humans could not just stick to walls.  "Mr. Stark is on the 34th floor in a business meeting and would like a report on how you are feeling."  It took a moment for Peter to hear her, still reveling in the fact that he was sticking to a wall.  

"Um, tell him I'm fine,"  Peter replied.  FRIDAY didn't reply as Peter carefully came off the wall.  Curious, Peter jumped at it again.  He stuck.  Grinning, Peter decided to see how high he could go.  He climbed up the wall and hung from the ceiling.  "That's so cool,"  he whispered to himself.  He turned to look at the door, but fell from the ceiling.  He stood back up then raced down the stairs to the lab.  "Hey FRIDAY, run some tests.  But keep them secret!"  Peter said.  He pricked his finger with a slight grimace then gave the blood to FRIDAY.  It didn't take long before the results were projected in front of it.  

"It appears you have arachnid blood mixed in with your own,"  FRIDAY told him.  Peter stared at the results, thinking back to his trip to Oscorp.  He'd been bitten by a spider.  A special spider, by the looks of it.  

"How long will it last?"  Peter asked.  

"From my calculations, it will be with you for the rest of your life,"  FRIDAY answered.  "Would you like me to tell Mr. Stark?"  

"No!  In fact, delete this from your database,"  Peter instructed.  Once he entered the override code, FRIDAY confirmed all recent research and conversation within the past ten minutes had been deleted.  Just as Peter closed out of the result file, he heard Tony coming down the stairs.  

"Hey, kid,"  he announced, walking into the lab.  "FRIDAY said you were doing better, but I don't believe it so no school for you.  Besides, school ended an hour ago."  

"Oh,"  Peter said.  Tony looked around the lab, then asked what he had been doing.  "Looking for you,"  Peter lied.  

"Well, here I am,"  Tony answered.  "How about we go upstairs and you tell me all about your field trip?"  

"Okay."  


	9. 15 Years Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a different take on Civil War, kind of. Like, it's with Tony not knowing Peter is Spider-man. Also, because he lives and is Tony's son, his first suit is better than the original in the movie, but it's not like the one Tony gives him. It's a pretty good, in between kind of suit if that makes sense.

Peter had just finished patrol for the night.  He had decided to buy himself a sandwich from Mr. Delmar, a man from Queens who made unbelievably good sandwiches.  He was sitting on top of a building, legs swinging happily, with his mask only pulled high enough so he could eat.  He had just taken a bite of his sandwich when he heard a familiar sound.  He turned around as best he could to see the Iron Man armor coming his way.  It arrived before Peter could pack up his sandwich and run, leaving Peter with no option but to confront the man inside.  

"Spider-man?  Got a moment?"  Tony asked, lifting his face mask.  Peter shrugged, finishing his bite of sandwich.  Tony took that as a 'yes' and climbed out of the Iron Man suit.  He joined Peter on the edge of the roof, sitting beside the kid as he continued eating his sandwich.  "I've seen you on YouTube.  You're pretty good.  What's your name?"  Tony asked.  Peter didn't respond, hoping Tony would get the hint he wanted to remain anonymous.  Besides, he knew Tony would recognize his voice.  "Fine, you can stay a secret, but here's the deal.  I need your help."  Peter frowned, his mouth still exposed through the lifted face mask.  Why did Tony need help?  What was happening?  "You see, the team and I have had a bit of a falling out and I need you to help stop them from leaving the country.  Think you can do that?"  Tony asked.  Peter hesitated.  Sure, he wanted to help Tony, but if he had to fight the team, it wouldn't be something he enjoyed.  Besides, how was he supposed to keep his identity a secret?  "Do you talk?  Cause you haven't said anything and I feel like this is a one way conversation."  

"I talk,"  Peter blurted out.  Tony looked taken aback for a moment, obviously finding Peter's voice at the very least familiar.  "I don't like to,"  Peter said, trying to change his voice.  Tony looked at him skeptically but nodded nonetheless.  Man, he must really need Spider-man's help.  

"Great,"  Tony said.  He stood up and brushed off his pants.  "You know where I live?  I've got a new suit for you, not that this is necessarily awful, it just isn't the best.  Stop by then we're off to Berlin."  Peter nodded and watched as Tony got back in his suit.  "That means now, kid."  Peter was the one caught off guard by Tony this time.  Had Tony been able to recognize his voice that quickly?  "Sorry, you just remind me of my son.  Be at the tower in five,"  Tony instructed.  With that, he shot off into the sky.  

* * *

It was difficult keeping his face out of Tony's line of vision.  Of course the suit Tony had made for Spider-man would be amazing.  Tony'd had the decency to leave while Peter changed, promising not to try and figure out his identity.  Peter had put the face mask on first thing and was horrified to hear an AI's voice welcome him.  The AI immediately recognized Peter and he begged her not to tell Tony.  It took some convincing but by the time Peter had changed completely and loaded the plane, the AI had agreed.  

The plane ride was quiet.  Peter would have asked Tony a million questions, but he knew he couldn't disguise his voice very well or for very long, so he remained silent.  Hopefully he would get some answers before they actually had to fight.  Tony had said the team was struggling to agree to a government law, but he never told Peter it would come to an actual fight.  As far as Peter knew, they were just squabbling.  This, though, sounded bigger than a squabble.  

"Here we are,"  Tony announced as the plane landed.  Peter nodded and followed Tony out.  He was met by Rhodey, Natasha, Vision, and a person dressed as a panther.  Peter grinned, immediately thinking of furries, but kept his mouth shut.  "This is Prince T'Challa of Wakanda, my best friend Rhodey, Vision, and Natasha,"  Tony introduced.  Peter didn't say a word.  Even if Tony didn't recognize his voice, Natasha was sure to.  He simply waved.  "This is Spider-man.  He's helping us stop Rogers,"  Tony said.  

"Nice to meet you, Spider-man,"  Rhodey said.  Peter nodded at him and Rhodey frowned, glancing at Tony.  

"He's not a big talker,"  Tony explained.  Rhodey nodded, still a little wary of the guy in a red and blue spider suit.  "Let's get going."  

* * *

Peter sucked at battles.  He figured that out as soon as he was thrown across the airport and was forced to stay out of the fight by Tony.  Thankfully, Tony had been too distracted by the battle to notice Peter's voice.  Peter had tried to disguise his voice when talking to Tony's "team", but once he was called in to fight, he couldn't do it anymore.  Everything was too intense and he needed his attention elsewhere.  

Tony had sent Spider-man back to the tower without him.  Once Tony, Steve, and Bucky disappeared, Rhodey, Spider-man, Vision, and Natasha were loaded onto the plane and sent back to the states.  Peter didn't talk the entire trip back and once they landed at the tower, he pretended to leave the tower then climbed back up and into his room.  He didn't want to run into Natasha or Vision (though both were probably with Rhodey down in the med bay), so he climbed in through the window and hid his new suit.  

"Welcome back, Peter,"  FRIDAY said.  Peter jumped out of his skin before realizing it was just the AI.  He shushed her and hurried to change into his pajamas.  They had only been gone about three days, but Peter was exhausted.  He knew he should be at school to really avoid suspicion, but it was the middle of the day and too late to arrive at school.  It didn't take long before Peter was fast asleep in his bed.  

* * *

Peter woke up to Natasha leaning over him.  He jumped and Natasha stepped back.  He resisted groaning in pain at his sudden movement, but Natasha didn't miss it.  She frowned and motioned for Peter to sit up.  Not wanting her to just pull him up, he reluctantly sat up.  Natasha pulled his shirt up to discover a large bruise on his abdomen.  

"I didn't think you'd been hit that hard,"  she muttered.  She reached for a first aid kit Peter had just noticed she's brought in and pulled out bruise ointment.  "Was this from being thrown across the airport or something else?"  Natasha asked.  Peter's eyes widened, but Natasha didn't look up from where she was fixing of Peter's bruised ribs.  

"What do you mean?"  he stuttered.  Natasha glanced up briefly to give him a look that clearly side to cut the crap.  

"Peter, I know you were with us in Berlin,"  Natasha replied.  She went back to fixing up Peter as she explained.  "I figured it out about four months ago.  Who do you think left pain killers on the nightstand after bad nights and made sure your med kit stayed well stocked?"  Peter sighed, glad to have someone in on the secret but also annoyed.  Natasha could easily tell his dad and he'd be done.  

"Please don't tell Dad,"  Peter begged.  As it turned out, she didn't have to.  Tony had figured it out not long into the fight which is why he had told Peter he was done.  Natasha had been sent back early to help Peter get back on his feet and make sure he wasn't too bad off.  Of course, Tony had told Natasha to make sure Peter knew how sorry he was for dragging him into the mess.  

"He would have preferred for you to stay out,"  Natasha said.  "He'll be back in a few hours.  You can talk to him more then."  

It took a lot of convincing, but a couple hours after Tony had returned and thoroughly expressed his dislike towards Peter for hiding the fact that he was Spider-man, Tony agreed to allow Peter to continue his nightly adventures.  Of course, there was now more rules (one of which was not to take on anything bigger than a friendly neighborhood fight) so Peter wouldn't have to sign the Accords.  As much as Tony saw why they were necessary, he didn't want his kid signing them.  He couldn't be sure Ross wouldn't pull something that would lead to Peter becoming an experiment.  The last thing Tony wanted was to lose his son along with the rest of the team.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's kind of bad, I know, but I figured I should write another for you guys since it'd been a few days. Hope you enjoyed it!


	10. 17 Years Old

The first thing Tony noticed about Peter as he came running into the compound was that the kid was running.  He happened to know Peter had taken a pretty nasty hit two nights ago while on patrol, so for him to be running anywhere must mean he was either in serious trouble or something had been deemed extremely important in his mind.  Tony had no time to ask what before the kid was searching through the mail on the counter top.  

"What's going on, kid?"  Tony asked, looking up from his laptop where he had been looking up the recent news.  Peter mumbled something under his breath and when Tony told him to speak up, Peter waved him off.  "Whoa, if mail is suddenly more important than your father, I'll tell the mailman to just stop bringing it."  

"There should be a letter for me,"  Peter answered, sparing a glance up at Tony.  Tony returned to his computer, a small grin on his face, no longer focused on the work in front of his.  "Has Vision been grabbing my mail?"  

"What kind of letter are you looking for?"  Tony asked.  Peter groaned and threw the mail on the counter top.  He shuffled over to the living room and slumped down in one of the empty couches.  "Is it a letter from MJ?  I didn't think kids these days wrote letters.  I thought they just texted."  

"It's not from MJ, dad,"  Peter muttered.  He glared out the window at the overcast sky as Tony rolled his eyes.  

"Then was it from MIT?"  Tony questioned.  Peter's head snapped his direction so fast Tony wondered how the kid didn't get whiplash.  He pretended to be invested in his laptop work as he continued speaking, "Yeah, I saw one.  Thought it was just spam, though, and gave it to Dummy to shred."  He shrugged then spared a glance at Peter.  The kid looked horror-stricken.  

"You what?"  he all but yelled.  Tony struggled to keep his body language and facial expressions indifferent.  "Where is he?  Tell me he hasn't shredded it yet,"  Peter begged.  Tony hummed, acting as though he was thinking about it.  

"He might still be down in the lab,"  Tony suggested.  Before Tony could get any more words out, Peter jumped up from the couch and raced down the lab.  Tony chuckled and asked FRIDAY to time how long it took Peter to reach the lab.  Three seconds after his request, FRIDAY announced that Peter had arrived.  "Bring up audio and visual.  I wanna see his reaction,"  Tony instructed.  FRIDAY took control of Tony's laptop and brought up the video feed of Peter crouching down beside Dummy.  Sure enough, the robot had Peter's letter, but he was definitely not shredding it.  Tony had told him to protect it, so protect it he did.  It took Peter a good few minutes before he successfully got the letter away from Dummy.  

As soon as Peter got the letter, he ripped it open.  His eyes scanned the page, not really taking in the words.  He got to the bottom of the letter before realizing he wasn't paying attention and would need to start all over again.  There, at the top of the letter were the words 'we are delighted to' and that was all Peter needed.  He let out a happy squeal, jumping around in a circle before turning and racing out of the lab to go tell Tony the news.  

"So, what's to verdict?  They sending you a 'sorry for not accepting you' package any time soon?"  Tony asked.  Peter knew, though, based on the smile on Tony's face that he knew the answer.  Peter shoved the letter in his hands before continuing his happy jump around the room.  Tony set the letter on the coffee table and instantly found himself wrapped up in a hug.  

"You didn't pull anything, did you?"  Peter asked as he pulled away.  Tony shook his head with a grin.  

"I knew I wouldn't need to,"  he replied.  Peter rolled his eyes then snatched up the letter.  "We're having a party tonight, by the way, to celebrate.  Balloons, banners, the whole sha-bang!"  Tony called after Peter as he raced down the hall, probably to tell the rest of the team his good news.  

* * *

The party wasn't too big, just the Avengers and Pepper at the compound.  Peter didn't mind, though.  He knew any friends he could have invited would be too shell-shocked around the Avengers to be any fun.  Besides, Ned hadn't been accepted to MIT like Peter had and Peter didn't want to rub it in his face that they would be splitting ways after this school year.  

"Hey, Peter?"  Tony asked.  The party was winding down as Peter felt himself growing sleeping, but everyone was still chatting in the living room with drinks.  

"Hmm?"  Peter hummed, glancing at his dad.  Tony motioned for him to follow then got up and left the room.  Frowning, Peter forced himself to stand up and follow Tony down the hall to wherever they were going.  

Peter was surprised to find Tony taking him to the roof.  They rarely went up there and Tony had never really allowed Peter to go without someone else with him, especially before finding out the kid was Spider-man.  Nonetheless, Peter sat down beside Tony on the edge of the roof and found himself looking out across the compound towards the forest.  

"You know, when I got accepted to MIT, I was so excited,"  Tony said.  Peter glanced at Tony when he realized whatever he was about to talk about was serious.  "For the first time in my life, I could leave and my dad couldn't do anything about it.  He didn't want to move just so he could be near me, but I was more than willing to dorm.  I just wanted to let you know that if you wanted to dorm too, I would understand."  Peter could have been shot and he would have been less surprised than what he had just heard his dad say.  "I also want you to know that I would be more than willing to move closer to MIT if you wanted me to be close.  But it's your choice, of course.  I don't want to push anything on--"  Tony never got to finish his sentence.  Peter threw himself in his arms and hugged him tightly.  

"Can we really move?"  Peter asked, pulling away hesitantly.  "Not that I don't like it here--I love it!  It's just, I didn't know how to tell you that I didn't want to dorm and if I had to then I would probably decline and go somewhere closer so that I could be closer to home and everyone else because I don't think I could be that far away from home no matter how old I am."  Tony smiled and hugged Peter again who didn't resist.  

"Of course we can move, Underoos,"  Tony replied.  "In fact, I even had a house that I was just waiting to make an offer on.  I guess I can go confirm that I'll buy it."  Peter grinned but didn't pull away from Tony.  

"I love you, dad,"  he said, voice muffled against Tony's chest.  

"I love you too, kiddo.  And I'm so, so proud of you."  


	11. 19 Years Old

Tony was in the middle of a Stark Industries meeting when he felt his phone vibrate. He'd had the foresight to turn it on silent before the meeting so thankfully no one heard it in his pocket but Pepper who sent him a warning look. He refrained from answering it, trying to focus on the meeting as the vibrating continued. Eventually it stopped and Tony relaxed now that Pepper was no longer staring at him. FRIDAY, however, decided to let him know who had called, talking through his watch so that everyone in the conference room heard. 

"Sir, Peter has left you a voicemail,"  she alerted. Tony frowned, glancing at the clock hanging on the wall. Peter was supposed to still be in class and FRIDAY had orders to let him through if it was an emergency. "I detected signs of distress in his message," FRIDAY said. Before Pepper could think about keeping him in the meeting, Tony was out of his chair and headed for the door. No one said anything as he left, simply resuming the message on Pepper's command. 

"Give me stats on the Spider-man suit," Tony demanded FRIDAY, tapping the earpiece on so FRIDAY could communicate directly with him. FRIDAY informed Tony the suit was still inactive and laying in Peter's dorm room. "Where's his phone?" Tony asked. 

"About five minutes away from the tower," FRIDAY answered. Tony redirected his route to the garage where he knew Peter would park before going upstairs to the penthouse. "He is taking the subway," FRIDAY said.  Tony groan and changed the number from the garage to the ground floor so he could meet Peter at the front doors. 

"Tell me these things earlier, FRI," Tony instructed.  

"Yes, boss," FRIDAY replied.  

By the time Tony reached the ground floor and made it outside of the tower, Peter was within sight. He had his hoodie pulled over his hair and his head down. Both hands were shoved in his pocket but every now and then he would reach up and wipe his face. Tony frowned but didn't wait for Peter to reach him. He met Peter on the sidewalk a few meters from the front doors. When Peter ran into him, he looked up with a sniffle and a quick swipe at his eyes. 

"Peter? What happened?" Tony asked. Instead of replying, Peter threw his arms around Tony and started sobbing. Tony hugged him, rubbing his back comfortingly. When he realized Peter wasn't going to calm down, Tony pulled away just enough to guide Peter back to the tower. It was a slow process, walking with his arm around Peter who refused to lift his head as he walked. 

No one said anything as the two walked into the tower. Tony cut the elevator line and stepped in with Peter, telling FRIDAY to take them right up to the penthouse. The elevator ride was filled with Peter's sobs and what Tony hoped were comforting words from him. When they finally reached the top floor, Tony led Peter into the living room and onto the couch. He forced Peter to let go of him so he could look at Peter properly while they talked about whatever had upset him.  

"Okay, how about you tell me what's wrong, yeah?" Tony asked softly. Peter sniffled and wiped his face as he nodded. Tony shifted closer to Peter and wrapped an arm around him, waiting for Peter to explain what had happened. 

"G-Gwen bro-broke up with m-me," he stuttered before collapsing into tears again. Tony sighed and let Peter all but crawl into his lap like he had when he was younger. Tony didn't say anything, letting Peter cry as he thought up what was best to say. 

"I'm sorry, kiddo," Tony said. He tried thinking back to when him and Pepper had broken up, right before the team fell apart so many years ago, but couldn't think of one thing he'd heard that had helped. "I'm so sorry, kid," he said, rubbing Peter's back and wishing he could have prevented the heartbreak Peter was obviously going through. He'd been gone for three days, Pepper had said there was a meeting he couldn't miss so he'd come up, and Peter's life had fallen apart. Tony made a mental note to never leave Massachusetts without Peter ever again, even if he knew he couldn't prevent what had happened with Gwen. 

Peter had been reduced to just hiccups and the occasional sniffle by the time Pepper arrived upstairs from the meeting. She walked into the penthouse, not sure what to expect, but hurried over to the couch when she saw Peter with his face buried in Tony lap and Tony looking upset. She carefully sat on the couch behind Peter and put her hand on his back. He didn't move, just sniffled and rolled closer to Tony. She glanced up at Tony for an explanation. 

 _Gwen_ , he mouthed. Pepper didn't need further explanation. Based on how Peter looked, she could determine easily that the two had obviously broken up.  

"Peter?" Pepper asked softly.  Peter slowly sat up with Tony's help and turned to face Pepper, still leaning heavily against Tony. "Do you want me to call the school so you can stay here for a while?" she asked, knowing better than to ask how he felt. Peter just nodded so Pepper stood up, running a hand through his hair then leaving to make the phone call. Once she was gone, Peter looked up at Tony with red eyes and a tear stained face. Tony felt his heart break at the sight and pulled Peter closer to him. 

"It gets better, right?" Peter asked quietly. Tony nodded, kissing his head. 

"Yeah," he said. "It will get better eventually, but it's gonna suck for a long time." Peter sniffled and Tony felt bad that he couldn't give the kid something to make him feel better. "Don't worry, though. It feels like death right now, but it gets better." Peter just nodded in reply and hugged Tony tighter. Tony had half expected a smart-ass response, so when he got nothing, he sighed and hugged Peter tightly, silently wishing the kid didn't have to go through something like heartbreak while simultaneously wishing he was in Peter's place instead. 


	12. Author’s Note

Ok, so now that I’ve got him pretty much grown up, I’ll still be doing one shots, but they might be in age order. I’ll always put the age in the title, but just be aware that from now on he might be 12 in one chapter then 5 in the next one. Just wanted to let you know! 


	13. 5 Years Old

Peter had been living with Tony for just over a year now.  However, it felt like almost his entire life to Peter.  He had quickly adapted to his new life, often finding Tony down in the lab or talking to the strange voice in the ceiling whenever he got bored.  The voice’s name was JARVIS, apparently, and if Peter thought it was a weird name, he didn’t mention it.  JARVIS was one of his best friends and was always willing to talk to him or play “I Spy” when Peter asked.  

“Is it the couch?”  Peter asked JARVIS.  He had been wandering all over the penthouse to try and find something black.  

“Right again,” JARVIS said.  Peter grinned happily, but was no longer in the mood for “I Spy”.  Instead, he made his way through the penthouse to Tony’s room.  He jumped on the bed then looked up at the ceiling to talk to JARVIS.  

“When is Daddy gonna be back?”  Peter asked. 

“I believe he will be returning in fifteen minutes,”  JARVIS answered.  Peter huffed and sat up, looking outside.  It was pouring rain outside on the New York streets.  Peter smiled at the rain then raced into his room, JARVIS’s voice following him.  “What are you planning on doing, Mr. Peter?”  he asked.  Peter scrunched up hid nose at the name, reminding JARVIS to just call him Peter.  

“I’m going to go play outside,”  Peter told him.  He dug through his closet, searching for some tennis shoes and socks.  He pulled them on the jumped up to grab a jacket.  No luck.  Shrugging, Peter decided to go without a jacket.  He was used to playing in the rain without a jacket anyway.  

“I’m afraid I cannot let you do that,”  JARVIS said.  Peter walked towards the elevator and pushed the down button, but nothing happened.  

“Please, JARVIS?  Just for five minutes?” Peter asked.  JARVIS didn’t reply and Peter pouted.  “I’ll just run outside really quick, hop in a puddle, then come back inside.  Daddy won’t even know I left!”  Peter exclaimed.  

“Alright,”  JARVIS conceded.  With a victorious shout, Peter hit the elevator button again then walked on.  He went all the way to the ground floor then shot into the lobby.  The people waiting looked shocked to see him, but he was outside before anyone could ask.  

Peter didn’t have to look very hard to find a puddle.  He ran towards it and jumped, water flying up his legs and soaking his feet.  He giggled happily and searched for another puddle on the sidewalk.  One more wouldn’t hurt and JARVIS would never know the difference if he jumped in two puddles instead of just one.  However, two became four and four became six and pretty soon, Peter was soaked head to toe due to both the rain from above and the puddle splashed from below.  When he looked up to return to the tower, he realized he had moved further than he thought.  The tower was almost a block away and he had crossed the street with the help of an older woman.  

In a panic, Peter began running back to the tower.  He bumped into a few people in his haste and was forced to stop at the crosswalk by a teenager who had just barely managed to grab his arm in time. Peter fought back tears as he tried to pull away from the older kid, but the boy just held on to him tighter and knelt down in front of him.  Peter sniffles, rubbing his arm under his nose as the older boy lifted his hood to get a better look at Peter.  

“Are you alone?”  the boy asked.  Peter nodded and the boy frowned.  He unzipped his jacket then pulled it off.  He pulled it over Peter and tugged the hood over Peter’s head.  “Where are you headed?”  Peter just pointed towards Stark Tower and the boy frowned.  “Stark Tower?  Why there?” 

“My Daddy’s there,”  Peter explained.  The boy nodded and held out his hand to Peter.  The crowd of people around them had begun to walk across the street and they were being swept up with them. 

“Okay, I’ll take you back,”  the boy promised.  They headed across the street and the boy led Peter all the way back to Stark Tower.  It was further than Peter had thought it was and he was grateful for the rain jacket the boy had given him.  “What were you doing all the way back there?”  the boy asked as they stopped at another cross street.  

“Puddles,”  Peter replied.  “I like jumping in them.”  The boy nodded with a smile then pointed to a puddle near them.  Peter grinned and let go of the boy’s hand so he could jump into the puddle.  When the crosswalk light turned green, the boy grabbed Peter’s hand again and walked him into Stark Tower. 

The lobby was absolute mayhem.  Staff were radioing back and forth as visitors were being asked (politely) to leave.  Peter and the boy were almost pushed out as well, but the boy managed to push through the crowd and towards the receptionist.  She was on the phone, but the boy was able to get her attention after multiple tries.  

“We’re a little busy here, kid,”  the lady snapped. 

“I’m sorry, but I found this little boy who got lost and said his dad is here,”  the boy replied.  The receptionist’s eyes widened and she looked down at Peter, bundled up in the boy’s rain jacket and holding tightly to his hand.  “Do you know who his dad is?  Cause I need to get home, but I figured I should probably bring him here first,”  the teen said.  Before the receptionist could reply, the boy felt Peter release his hand.  He turned quickly to make sure the kid hadn’t been swept up in the crowd only to see him racing towards none other than Tony Stark.  

“Daddy!”  Peter cried.  Tony picked Peter up as soon as he was within arms reach and hugged him tightly. 

“You’re soakin wet,”  Tony said, pulling back just enough to see Peter’s face.  It was still tear streaked from crying and Tony brushed a hand through Peter’s hair.  

“I’m sorry, Daddy,”  Peter said.  “I just wanted to jump in the puddles and I promised JARVIS I would only jump in one but I found more and more and then I was lost and it was really scary, but then a nice boy helped me get back but I’m really sorry, Daddy,”  Peter said through tears.  Peter pointed towards the teenager standing by the receptionist’s desk in shock and Tony turned to look at the boy.  

“Thank you for helping him,”  Tony said.  The boy nodded numbly.  “Is this your jacket?”  Tony asked.  The boy nodded again.  Tony carefully pried Peter off himself and set him down.  He helped Peter take off the boy’s jacket then handed it back to him, holding Peter with one arm.  “If you ever need anything, stop by.  I owe you one,”  Tony said.  The boy quickly shook his head.  

“N-No, Mr. Stark,”  he said.  “It’s fine.  Don’t worry about it.”  Tony glanced at Peter who had shifted in his arms so he could see his rescuer better.  “I mean, I broke my skateboard the other day.  I could use another one, if that’s okay.”  Tony nodded and pulled out his wallet.  He pulled out two 100 dollar bills and handed them to the boy who looked at him with shock.  

“Oh just keep them,”  Tony said.  “You brought me my son and he’s worth much more than $200.”  With that, Tony turned towards the elevator, Peter in his arms, then headed up to the penthouse. 


	14. 15 Years Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was inspired by a Tumblr post so if you were the origin of this inspiration, I hope this one shot pleases you!

Peter had just arrived from school.  He dropped his backpack right inside the door and pulled off his shoes before walking further into the compound. It was strangely quiet for a day he happened to know Thor was visiting.  He had made sure he was right on time for Happy to pick him up from school.  It had been a while since Peter had last seen Thor; he had been 10 or so at the time.  Of course, Thor had come to earth for missions, but Peter never saw him for those.  He disappeared almost as soon as they were finished; he only knew Thor had come because all Peter’s pop tarts would be gone.  

“Dad?”  Peter called, shutting the door and walking into the kitchen.  It was empty.  

“Mr. Stark is currently in his lab,”  FRIDAY announced.  “Would you like me to notify him of your arrival?”  

“Nah,”  Peter replied.  He peered into the fridge and pulled out leftover pancakes from breakfast.  “Where’s everyone else?”  he asked.  He put a pancake on a plate then heated it up in the microwave. 

“Ms. Romanoff, Mr. Barton, and Captain Rogers are in the training room with Prince Thor,”  FRIDAY told him.  “The Vison and Ms. Maximoff have left the grounds.”  Peter nodded and poured syrup on his warm pancake before eating it.  “Colonel Rhodes is not currently on the base and Mr. Wilson is watching chic flicks in his room.”  Peter grinned at the thought of Sam watching Mean Girls and hurried to eat his pancake. 

Once he was finished, he put his plate in the dishwasher and walked into the living room.  He stopped short when he noticed Mjolnir sitting on the coffee table.  He looked at it for a moment, then looked around the room.  No one was around.  He walked over to the coffee table and got a closer look at Mjolnir.  Tony had told him no one had been able to lift it other than Vision and Thor; apparently they weren’t “worthy”.  Peter had wanted to try picking up the hammer after Tony had told him about it, but Thor hadn’t been around for him to try.  Now was the perfect time, though, with no one around to laugh at him when he failed.  

Peter positioned himself carefully so he would have a good angle for trying to lift the hammer then took a deep breath.  He looked around the room one more time to make sure no one was watching, then wrapped his hands around the handle.  With a huge tug, Peter flew backwards, Mjolnir flying off the table and whacking him in the head, causing Peter’s vision to go black.  

* * *

Sam didn’t like his chic flicks being interrupted.  He enjoyed watching them in peace in his room, so when he heard a loud thud, he expected interruptions.  When no other sound came, not even an “ouch”, Sam grew suspicious.  Reluctantly, he hit pause on his movie and walked down the hall.  He didn’t notice anything out of place until he came to the living room.  Laying on the floor, out cold, was Peter.  Sam nearly forgot to breath as he rushed over to make sure he was still breathing.  

“FRIDAY, call Tony,”  Sam instructed, checking Peter’s pulse.  It was still strong and the kid was breathing fine, but Sam didn’t relax.  Tony nearly pushed him over seconds later, dropping down next to Peter and checking his pulse as well. 

“What the hell happened, Wilson?”  Tony demanded, shaking Peter to wake him up.  Sam stopped him, warning him it could make things worse.  

“No clue,”  Sam said.  “I was watching a movie, heard a thud, and found the kid out cold.”  Tony checked Peter’s eyes and was thankful to see neither pupil was blown.  Just as he closed Peter’s eyes, the kid began to squirm and groan.  His hand immediately went to his head.  

“Ouch,”  he muttered.  

“What hurts?  What happened?”  Tony asked, helping Peter slowly sit up.  

“It’s just my head,”  Peter answered.  With the thought of a concussion running throughout Tony’s mind, he asked FRIDAY to run some scans then asked what had happened again.  Peter blushed and looked away.  Tony followed his gaze to where Mjolnir was laying but didn’t understand.  “I think I can pick up Thor’s hammer,”  Peter said.  Tony frowned.  

“I asked why you were unconscious, not if you were worthy,”  Tony retorted.  Peter’s fave got even more red.  

“I tried picking up the hammer, but I didn’t expect it to be so easy to pick up,” Peter explained.  Beginning to understand what had happened, Tony smirked.  “It hit me in the head,”  Peter mumbled.  Tony started to laugh, the thought of Peter thinking he wasn’t worthy (also the image of Mjolnir hitting him because he was) amusing him. 

“FRIDAY, show me the footage of what happened,”  Tony said.  Peter’s fave went from red to white as a hologram image of him getting into position to lift Mjolnir appeared.  

“No!”  Peter said.  Tony and Sam watched  as Peter prepared to lift Mjolnir then unceremoniously fell backwards, Mjolnir slamming into his head.  When they had both finished laughing, Tony pulled Peter to his feet.  

“Come on, kid,”  he said.  “Let’s make sure your worthiness didn’t get a concussion.”  Frowning, Peter followed a still laughing Tony down to the lab where they discovered he had, in fact, gotten a concussion. 


	15. 5 Years Old: Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a requested chapter. Kind of. The request was for Peter to meet the Avengers and he will in the next part, but in this part, he meets Agent Hill.

Tony hung up the phone, dragging a hand down his face as he groaned.  Pepper was in Malibu, the babysitter for Peter had had an emergency, and Tony had to be at an Avengers meeting in one hour.  Technically, he had to be there in 45 minutes, but he always made a point of arriving fashionably late.  However, Peter couldn’t be left alone at the tower with just JARVIS to watch him and Tony didn’t trust any of his staff enough to leave Peter with them.  That left only one option and Tony wasn’t very excited about it.  

“Peter?”  he called.  He heard Peter’s small feet slapping the tiled floor seconds later as the five year old came bounding into his bedroom.  Peter jumped on the bed, jostling Tony only a little as he landed.  

“What?”  Peter asked, crawling over to where Tony was sitting and tossing his legs over the bed to sit exactly how his dad was. 

“Emily had to cancel today, so you have to come with me to a meeting,”  Tony told him.  Peter frowned, jutting his lip out and causing Tony to roll his eyes.  “Don’t give me that; it’ll be fun, promise,”  Tony told him.  He stood up from his bed, pocketing his phone and picking Peter up.  “Let’s go pack some fun toys then we gotta go.”  Peter nodded and allowed Tony to carry him into his room.  

They worked together packing toys and coloring books for Peter to busy himself with while Tony was in his meeting.  It took them fifteen minutes to finish getting toys and snacks together.  Tony hadn’t even realized Peter was still in his pajamas until Peter mentioned it on their way down to the garage.  They turned back around and marched into Peter’s room to get him changed into some jeans and his favorite t-shirt (an Iron Man one, of course).  Shoes were simply picked up and carried while socks were shoved in the play bag.  Tony ended up carrying a barefooted Peter down to the garage and they were finally headed towards the SHIELD headquarters with twenty minutes until the meeting that took place thirty minutes away.  

“Daddy?”  Peter asked, swinging his feet from his car seat in the backseat.  Tony glanced at Peter in the rear view mirror before having to slam on the brakes to avoid slamming into the person in front of him.  “Where are we going?”  

“I have an Avengers meeting,”  Tony answered.  Peter’s eyes widened.  

“Will Captain America be there?”  he whispered.  Tony smiled and nodded, slowly starting the car forward again.  

“So will Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Hulk,”  Tony replied.  Peter stared at him in awe and Tony just smiled.  Peter was quiet the rest of the ride to SHEILD, too busy thinking about how he was going to meet the Avengers in a short while to ask Tony a million questions.  

When they arrived at SHIELD, Peter unbuckled his seatbelt himself then clambered out of the car.  Tony carried his entertainment bag into headquarters and simply waved at the receptionist who stared at him in shock.  Peter held onto Tony’s hand tightly, not wanting to get lost in the crowd of agents.  Not that Tony would have let him walk on his own; he didn’t need to lose his kid in a facility full of lethal weapons and people.

“Mr. Stark?  You’re late,”  Agent Hill said, walking with him towards the elevator.  She glanced down at Peter then did a double take.  Tony grinned down at Peter who jumped into the elevator as he always did.  “Are you babysitting?”  Maria asked, surprised anyone would leave their kid with Tony Stark.  

“No, actually,”  Tony said.  He slung Peter up into his arms and Peter shrieked happily, wrapping his arms around Tony’s neck and grinning at Maria.  “This is my son Peter.  Peter, this is Agent Maria Hill and despite how scary she tries to be, she’s actually really nice and will kill any bad guys I can’t,”  Tony introduced.  Suddenly shy, Peter just waved at Maria, keeping close to Tony.  Maria waved back with a smile.  

“Well it’s very nice to meet you, Peter,”  she said.  Peter smiled wider, happy Maria seemed to like him.  “You know, your Daddy isn’t actually allowed to bring you to his meeting, but while he’s in his meeting, how about you and I go exploring?”  Maria suggested.  Peter looked at Tony for permission who nodded.  

“Okay!”  Peter agreed.  Maria smiled as the elevator dinged.  Tony set Peter down and both Maria and Peter followed him out of the elevator.  Stepping out of the way, Tony squatted down in front of Peter.  

“You’ll be okay with Maria,”  Tony told him.  Peter nodded, glancing back at Maria.  “If you need anything, just ask her.  And if you really need to come find me, she’ll bring you to me,”  Tony said, giving Maria a pointed look.  She nodded with a smile grin.  Tony ruffled Peter’s hair, standing up, then handed the entertainment bag to Maria.  “If you get tired of exploring, here’s some stuff to do,”  Tony told her.  Maria nodded and took the bag.  

“Get to your meeting, Stark,”  Maria said.  Tony rolled his eyes.  “We’ll be fine,”  she assured him.  Tony still looked hesitant to leave. 

“Go, Daddy!”  Peter insisted.  “I want to stay with Miss Maria!”  Tony smiled and nodded.  

“Alright, kiddo,”  he said.  He walked into the meeting room, waving as he left.  Once he was out of sight, Maria held out her hand and Peter happily took it.  

“Let’s go check out the plane hangar,”  she said, walking back towards the elevator with Peter happily skipping behind her. 


	16. 5 Years Old: Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A request continued: Peter meets the Avengers

The Avengers meeting wasn’t going very well.  Fury was trying to explain what was expected of everyone, including working as a team.  Tony had stopped worrying about Peter pretty early on when Captain Freedom began to get on his case about not paying attention to important things like the current meeting.  He was supposed to be finished ten minutes ago and it looked as if the meeting was winding down, but Fury was sure to schedule another one tomorrow since they hadn’t gotten very far during this meeting.  

Fury was in the middle of closing the meeting when the door flew open.  Everyone turned to see who had entered, Tony turning his chair around entirely.  He was glad he had when Peter collided into his legs, leaning over them and smiling happily up at Tony.  Maria was close behind, entertainment bag hanging from her shoulder and a small smile on her face.  At least, she was smiling until she realized the meeting wasn’t over and they had just burst into the room.  

“You’ll never guess what we did, Daddy!” Peter exclaimed.  Tony was sure he couldn’t.  This was SHEILD; he knew there was a variety of things to do.  

“Hold up,”  Clint said, leaning forward in his chair and holding up his hand.  “Daddy?  You have a kid?”  he asked.  Tony ignored him, letting Peter climb into his lap.  He leaned back in his chair and Peter faced him excitedly.  

“What’d you do, kiddo?”  Tony asked.  He glanced at Maria who had slipped over to apologize to Fury.  It looked like Fury was more interested in Peter, though, than whatever Maria was saying.  

“Miss Maria took me down to see all the planes and stuff and then she let me fly in one!”  Peter said, jumping up just a bit and nearly toppling off Tony’s legs.  Tony raised an eyebrow at Maria who rolled her eyes.  

“Did she?”  he asked.  Maria walked over to Peter and handed the entertainment bag back to Tony.  

“I’m glad you had fun, Peter,”  Maria said.  She kissed the top of his head, surprising everyone in the room, then ruffled his hair.  “I have to go, but next time your Dad has a meeting, I’d be more than willing to watch you,”  she said.  

“I’m sure you would,”  Tony muttered.  Peter just smiled and hugged Maria tightly before waving goodbye as she walked out of the room.  Peter looked like he was about to tell Tony more about the planes when he realized there were more people in the room.  He gasped when he saw Steve, then covered his mouth when he saw all the Avengers. 

“Oops,”  he whispered.  

“Peter, that’s Steve, Clint, Natasha, Bruce, and Fury,”  Tony introduced.  “Everyone, this is my son Peter.” 

“I need some more explaining,”  Bruce said, looking curiously at Peter.  Tony rolled his eyes and turned his chair to face the rest of the team, Peter still on his lap.  

“I don’t know what else there is to explain, Bruce,”  Tony said.  

“Is he adopted?”  Steve asked.  Tony screwed up his face and shook his head.

“No, he’s all me,”  he answered.  Natasha raised an eyebrow and Tony corrected himself, “Fine, he’s half me.  He’s the half of me that wants to go home and watch Disney Channel, so we’re gonna go now.”  Tony nudged Peter off his legs then stood up.  He tossed the entertainment bag over his shoulder then grabbed Peter’s hand.

“We have another meeting tomorrow, Stark,”  Fury said.  Tony just waved over his back then pulled open the door.  He followed Peter out of the room and into the elevator.  When he looked down at Peter, he frowned.  

“Where are your shoes?”  he asked.  Peter looked down at his feet as if just noticing (Tony wouldn’t have been surprised if he had just noticed; the kid was almost always barefoot).  

“In the car,”  Peter replied.  When Tony looked confused, Peter continued.  “We never put them on but I didn’t mind.”  

“I know you don’t now, but you will when you step on something pointy,”  Tony told him.  Peter just shrugged then held up his arms.  Tony picked him up and Peter grinned.  

“Can’t step on something pointy if I don’t walk!”  Peter exclaimed, causing Tony to shake his head with a smile while Peter grinned victoriously. 


	17. 13 Years Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Thanks for all the comments you’ve been leaving! Just wanted to let you know if you have any ideas for one shots you want to see me write, leave a comment with the ideal age and the idea. Thanks!

Peter wasn’t very excited about tonight.  Tony had a party he was required to go to and was making Peter join him.  Thankfully, the party was in the Tower so Peter could disappear part way through the night if he wanted to, but he still had to stay for part of it.  

“Can’t I just stay up here?”  Peter complained, letting Tony fixed his tie and cuff links.  “It’s gonna be boring.  I can’t even drink!”  

“Oh you’re fine,”  Tony replied, smoothing down his collar then stepping back.  “Natasha is running the bar and can get you some sprite or something if you ask nicely.”  Peter rolled his eyes and followed Tony to the elevator.  

“I don’t see why I have to go,”  Peter mumbled.  They stepped into the elevator and FRIDAY took them downstairs to where the party would be. She had strict instructions not to let anyone but Peter or the Avengers to the top floor, making sure no one would mess with their stuff.  

“If you want to take over Stark someday, you’ll have to go to these all the time,”  Tony reminded him.  Peter huffed and crosses his arms.  Tony refrained from mentioning his attitude, knowing it would make things worse if he did and it was likely to go away soon anyway.  Peter was never grumpy for too long.  

The elevator opened once they reached the lower levels of the penthouse and Peter and Tony walked out.  Tony immediately went to start talking to people he recognized and, with no other option than get lost in chaos, Peter followed him.  Tony introduced Peter to everyone he talked to and they all asked Peter about what he thought about running Stark Industries one day.  After about two hours of it, Peter left Tony to go find Natasha at the bar.  

He spotted her making someone a martini and slid onto a stool near the end of the table where most people weren’t.  Of course, Natasha noticed him and smiled.  When she finished the martini, she walked over to talk to him.  

“Now what’s got you coming to me?”  Natasha asked.  Another man arrived at the bar and Natasha went to help him.  Peter moved stools so he was closer to where Natasha seemed to always be so they could talk.  

“I’m just thirsty, Aunt Tasha,”  Peter replied.  He was tired, too, but his grumpy attitude had disappeared almost as soon as he had walked out of the elevator with Tony.  “And tired, but I don’t think Dad’s gonna let me leave this early,”  Peter told her.  Natasha handed the man his drink then fished a Sprite out of the mini fridge for Peter.  He happily took it, opening it up right away and drinking it.  

“It’s not that bad,”  Natasha said.  Peter just shrugged.  “You get used to it after a while.  Soon you’ll be as smooth talking as your dad.”  Peter snorted and Natasha grinned.  “Okay, maybe not.  You’ll charm people in your own way, though.” 

“Yeah okay,”  Peter replied.  With that, Natasha left to continue making drinks and Peter was left alone on his stool with a Sprite.  Pretty soon, though, someone else sat beside him.  Peter glanced over at the man as he waved Natasha off and turned to look at Peter.  Natasha hesitated as she left, making sure to stay close and keep an eye on the man as long as he was close to Peter.  

“You must be Peter Stark,”  the man said.  He held out his hand and Peter shook it, a little confused and cautious.  “I’m Pat Greenwald and I work for Time Magazine.  Mind if I ask the future CEO of Stark Industries a few questions?”  he asked.  

“Uh, sure,”  Peter stuttered, not really sure what else to say.  Pat pulled out an audio recorder and held it up before pounding Peter with questions.  

“Now, we don’t know much about you and would like to get to know you,”  Pat said.  “How long have you been without Tony Stark?  Are you really his son?  If so, was your birth just a way for your mother to get money?”  Shocked, Peter didn’t immediately reply.  Pat waited, surprisingly, until Peter did answer.  

“Uh, I’ve, um, been with my Dad for, uh, about eight years now,”  Peter started.  He swallowed, looking around for his dad as he spoke.  “I am his actual son and no, my mom didn’t just have me to get money,”  Peter said, getting defensive.  

“Mhm,”  Pat said.  He glanced at his watch then continued.  “Where’s your mom now?  Living rich in the Bahamas while you thrive with the prospect of one day owning Stark Industries?  Are you actually smart enough to run the company?  How do we know you won’t bring it to ruins?”  Peter turned to his Sprite, trying to ignore the man and his rude questions.  When Pat realized Peter wasn’t going to answer him, he reached for Peter’s arm to turn him back around. As soon as he did, though, another hand grabbed his arm and he look up to see Natasha giving him a dark look.  

“You’re going to let go of the kid,”  she said quietly.  “Then you’re going to get up, leave the Tower, and never come back here again.”  Pat raised an eyebrow at her. 

“What makes you think I’m going to be intimidated by one of Stark’s hookups behind a bar?”  he asked.  Before he could blink, the arm he’d had on Peter was being pulled up behind his back, his face pressed into the bar. 

“If you touch my son again, I will end you in such a painful way your great grandchildren’s children will feel it,”  Tony hissed in his ear.  Pat snuck a glance up at Natasha who had a gun trained on him, immediately recognizing her as Black Widow.  “We clear?”  Tony asked.  Pat tried to nodded but was unsuccessful.  Tony pulled his arm back further and Pat groaned. 

“Yes! Yes, we’re clear,”  he said.  Tony released him and Pat rushed for the elevator, not looking back.  Tony and Natasha watched him leave before turning their attention to Peter. 

“Are you okay?”  Tony asked.  Peter nodded numbly but Tony knew better than to believe him.  “Yeah, okay.  We’re gonna go back upstairs,”  Tony said.  He looked up at Natasha who was still holding her gun, but not pointing at anyone.  

“I’ll make sure everyone clears out,”  she promised.  She nodded to Peter as she said, “You take care of him.”  Tony picked up Peter’s Sprite and wrapped an arm around him, guiding him back to the elevator and telling FRIDAY to take them upstairs. 

“What happened?”  Tony asked as they sat on the couch.  He put Peter’s Sprite on the coffee table then turned to look at Peter who had tears forming in his eyes. He refused to let them drop, though, and turned his head away from Tony.  

“He accused me and mom of just using you to get money,”  Peter said softly.  He sniffled and wiped his nose on his suit.  “He acted like I wouldn’t be a good CEO of Stark Industries, too, and said I would probably ruin the company which is probably true and I shouldn’t take it over, but I want to I just don’t want to ruin it because you do so many cool things with it and I don’t think I could ever match up to that.”  When Peter finally breathed, Tony moved to wrap his arm over his shoulder and pulled him to his side. 

“Don’t worry, kid,”  Tony said.  Peter sniffled again.  “I know better than to think you and your mom are just using me for money.  I also know you’re going to make a great CEO of Stark Industries. Sure, it’s a ways off and maybe right now you might not be that great, but I don’t plan on dying right now.  After college, you’ll feel a lot more prepared to take it on.  Besides, one day you'll get yourself an assistant and who knows what would happen next.”  

“Dad,”  Peter groaned, face reddening.  Tony laughed and hugged Peter.  

“It’ll be okay, kid,”  he promised.  “Besides, I’m pretty sure Aunt Natasha chased that guy down as soon as she left.  If I had popped his shoulder out of socket it would have been bliss compared to what she’ll do to him.”  Peter grinned and nodded.  “Go change.  We’ll marathon Harry Potter and order pizza,”  Tony said.  Peter didn’t need to be told twice before he was running towards his room to change into his pajamas while Tony changed and had FRIDAY call in the pizza order. 


	18. 14 Years Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a requested chapter. Peter gets a really high fever (not related to spider incident like the last 14 Years Old one).

Peter felt like crap, but he wasn't going to say anything.  The moment he woke up, he wanted to just disappear into his blankets and sleep the day away.  His body ached, he was dizzy, and his nose was running.  There was no doubt he was sick, but he had three tests today and he was not about to skip them just because of a cold.  That meant the morning would now have to become a game of Avoid Dad or Else.  Tony was sure to keep him home if he found out Peter was sick.  

Begrudgingly, Peter pulled himself out of bed and stumbled towards his closet.  He nearly fell over putting on his jeans when his vision went momentarily black, but he managed to catch himself.  He tugged the closest shirt over his head and walked towards the kitchen.  Fortunately for him, Tony wasn't in the kitchen when he arrived.  He would be able to skip breakfast without Tony noticing.  He didn't think he could keep the food down.  

"Morning, Pete!"  Tony said, walking into the kitchen happily.  Peter quickly turned so his back was to his dad and grunted in reply.  "What's up?"  Tony asked, stopping by Peter. 

"Nothing,"  Peter said a little too quickly.  Tony frowned.  "I'm just tired and I have a bunch of tests today, so I'm gonna take the subway to meet up with Ned early and study."  Peter didn't wait for a response as he grabbed his backpack and moved as fast as he could towards the elevator.  Tony caught him easily, though, and stopped him.  

"Just have Happy take you,"  Tony said.  Peter turned his face away from him again and Tony became even more confused.  "He's already downstairs.  Besides, you know how I feel about the subway." 

"Okay,"  Peter said.  The elevator opened and Peter hurried in.  "Bye, Dad!"  The doors shut as Tony muttered goodbye, a frown still on his face.  

As soon as the elevator doors closed, Peter sniffled and wiped his nose with his jacket.  His head was pounding and he was starting to wish he had grabbed some head ache relief before rushing out of the penthouse.  Too late now, though, so Peter just leaned against the cool wall of the elevator. 

When Peter reached the ground floor, he found Happy waiting for him.  He silently followed Happy out to the car and got in.  Confused, Happy shut his door then climbed in the driver's seat.  He pulled onto the road, glancing back at Peter who was passed out in the backseat, using his backpack as a pillow.  Tony had told Happy that Peter was tired, but Happy had never had the kid be so quiet in the car.  And no matter how tired he was, he always hated sleeping in cars.  

Happy didn't wake up Peter as soon as they arrived at school.  They had come thirty minutes earlier than they needed to and Happy wasn't going to wake Peter up no matter how bad he needed to study with Ned.  If the kid was tired enough to fall asleep in the car, he would remain sleeping until he had to go to class.  Besides, Happy couldn't see Ned anywhere. 

* * *

The bell rang and Peter's eyes snapped open.Scrambling to pack up his things, he rushed out the door after Ned.He had fallen asleep in English class.Thankfully they hadn’t been taking a test, but Peter wouldn’t be surprised if his teacher called him up front tomorrow to give him detention. 

“Dude, you look awful,”Ned said as they walked to the cafeteria.Peter rolled his eyes but stumbled as the world spun.Ned grabbed his arm to help stabilize him, a concerned expression on his face.“You should be at home, man.” 

“No, I’m fine,”Peter said.They walked into the cafeteria and the smell of food made him want to vomit.“Could we eat outside?”Peter asked.Ned gave him a look but agreed. 

They got their food then walked outside to eat.  Peter just picked at his food and didn’t eat any of it.  Ned didn’t say anything about it, but he was still concerned.  Peter almost dozed off again during lunch and Ned considered calling Mr. Stark.  He only had the number because whenever Tony needed to get ahold of Peter and he didn’t have his phone, he would text Ned.  

After lunch, they had PE.  Peter struggled to change into the PE uniform and was nearly late to class.  He stood by Ned, eyes on the floor in front of him as the world spun.  When the coach demanded they all do three laps around the gym, Peter knew he was screwed.  He was never good at running, but he knew he was going to be even worse if he was sick.  

“Pick up the pace, Stark!”Coach yelled.Peter sighed and struggled to go faster.He was still on his first lap, Ned right beside him, while everyone else was finishing their second.Even Ned could run faster than he currently was, but had stuck by Peter’s side like Peter always did for him. 

Peter was nearing the end of his second lap when his world began to spin again.  He stumbled, reaching out for Ned.  Ned grabbed him, preventing him from nose diving to the floor, but Peter still fell.  The coach rolled his eyes and yelled for Peter to just finish his second lap then be done, he was holding up the rest of the class.  But Peter didn’t move and Ned looked worried.  

“He’s not moving!”Ned told the coach.Sighing, the coach jogged over to the two boys and looked down at Peter.He was out cold.Now concerned, the coach knelt down beside Peter and felt his forehead.The kid was burning up. 

“Go get the nurse and tell her to call Mr. Stark,”the coach instructed.Ned nodded and ran for the nurse as fast as he could.As soon as she saw Peter, she instructed the coach to take him to her office and she would watch his class.When he returned, she raced to go help Peter, Ned following after begging to go too. 

When Tony arrived at the school, he was in full panic mode.All the nurse had told him was that Peter had passed out in gym class and still hadn’t woken up.After asking at the front desk where it was, Tony hurried to the nurse’s room where Peter was.He threw open the door and rushed over to where Peter was laying.He was awake now, Ned still right by his side, but he didn’t look good. 

“What happened?”  Tony demanded at the nurse.  Her eyes widened and she stumbled over her words as she spoke.  

“His temperature is currently 40.3 degrees,”the nurse explained.“He should have been kept at home today with a fever that high.”She looked at Tony as if it was his fault and he rolled his eyes, turning to Peter and running his hand through the kid’s hair.He almost pulled back at how hot Peter’s skin was, but Peter leaned against his hand and closed his eyes. 

“He didn’t tell me,”Tony told her.He looked back at the nurse and said, “I’ll be taking him now.”With that, he thanked Ned for taking care of Peter (Ned couldn’t stop smiling for the rest of the day; he had been THANKED by TONY STARK!) and carefully picked up Peter.Peter groaned but let Tony pick him up. 

Tony laid him in the backseat and fastened his seatbelt for him.  He climbed in the front seat then sped off towards the Tower.  He carried Peter all the way up to his room then told him to get changed and go to bed while he went to find some medicine.  When he returned to Peter’s room, Peter was sprawled out on his bed in sweatpants and a t-shirt, fast asleep.  Tony shook his head with a small smile and set the medicine on Peter’s nightstand.  He quietly shut the bedroom door and walked into the living room to finish his work online.  

“FRIDAY, let me know when Peter wakes up,”Tony said, sitting on the couch and pulling his laptop onto his lap. 

“Sure thing, boss,”FRIDAY replied.


	19. 6 Years Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was inspired by a post from the Twitter account Marveltexts. It’s shorter than usual, but I think it’s pretty cute.

Peter was busy at the counter when Natasha walked into the penthouse at the top of Stark Tower.Tony had told her Peter was alone in the Tower and that he needed someone to watch him while he’s working.Natasha had been at Stark Tower anyway to deliver something to Stark that Fury wanted him to have, so it wasn’t hard for her to go upstairs and find the kid.He was easy enough to take care of, so she just went into the living room to read until he needed her. 

After an hour of not hearing anything from Peter, Natasha got up to see what was going on.  She walked into the kitchen to find Peter humming to himself at he colored on a piece of paper with crayons.  He had a larger drawing pad under his paper to prevent crayon from getting on the countertop.  He looked very invested in his drawing, his face close enough to the paper Natasha was sure he could smell the crayon. 

“What are you up to, Peter?”  Natasha asked, walking over to stand behind him.  He looked up at her with a grin and pointed to his drawing.  

“I drew the Avengers!”  he said happily.  He turned back to his drawing and pointed at a figure drawn with black crayon and red frizz near the top of the black body.  “Look! I drew you but your arms are crossed because you’re mad at all the other Avengers for being annoying!”  Peter explained.  Natasha felt something weird in the back of her throat as Peter looked at her with so much joy, pointing to the poorly scribbled creature he claimed was her.  “Do you like it?”  he asked.  Natasha nodded and swallowed, running her fingers through his hair.  

“It’s great,”  she told him, pushing back the tears that threatened to fall.  If possible, Peter beamed even more then held up the picture for her to take.  

“You can have it!”  he told her.  Natasha took it from him with a smile, then hugged him.  He hugged her back then squirmed off the kitchen stool and pulled her into the living room.  “We should watch a movie,”  he said.  Natasha didn’t object, too wrapped up in processing the thought that a child as innocent and sweet as Peter had taken the time to draw her a picture and was now curled up beside her.  There was no reason Peter should like her, but he did.  Natasha made him a silent promise right then and there that no bad thing would happen to him as long as she lived.  


	20. 15 Years Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a request. Deals with drinking and high school parties, just so you know.

The last place Peter wanted to be was at home.  Tony was dealing with the Avengers’ split and the Accords, so he was never around.  When he was, he was irritable and Peter couldn’t say or do anything without wondering if it would cause his dad to get upset.  The split had been hard on both of them, but Peter didn’t think Tony knew how hard it had been on him.  He now had no one to talk to, Steve and Natasha were both fugitives and Tony brushed him off.  So Peter found himself wandering through Ned’s neighborhood, delaying the inevitable ride home where he would meet his dad.  

He was talking himself into going to the subway when he came across a house.  It was in full party mode.  Teens were making out on the front lawn and music was playing loudly.  Curious, Peter walked up to it.  He didn’t know much about parties (nothing at all, actually), so he didn’t join in.  At least, not until someone called out to him and invited him in.  

“It’s dope, man,”  the kid said before leaving Peter in the middle of the living room.  He didn’t know anyone here; they must have been students at a different high school.  

Peter found himself in the kitchen a few minutes later.  There was some punch sitting out, but Peter knew it was probably spiked.  However, it would be nice to get his mind off the fight with the Avengers.  No, his dad would kill him if he found out Peter had gone to a party let alone gotten drunk.  Still, the idea of forgetting about the Accords and Avengers was tempting.  

Peter took a cup of lunch and drank it so fast he wasn’t sure what flavor it had been.  He quickly refilled his cup and downed it again.  He knew his spider genes would metabolize the alcohol quicker than normal, so he didn’t bother slowing his drinks even as he felt his body feel lighter and he began to forget where he was and why.  Pretty soon, he was stumbling around the house and on the dance floor, a strange girl grinding against him.

Peter let the girl tug him outside after dancing.  He giggled, stumbling after her.  He frowned when she let go of his hand and threw her arms around another guy then proceeding to make out with her.  Peter would have gone up and demanded an answer, but his phone rang.  He fumbled it out of his pocket then answered.  

“Hello?”  he slurred.  He leaned against the wall of the house for support but allowed himself to slide to the ground.  

“Peter?  Where are you?  Ned says you left hours ago,”  Tony said.  Peter hiccuped and Tony froze.  He listened closely to Peter’s surroundings then quietly told FRIDAY to track him.  “Are you at a party?  Peter, who’s party are you at?”  

“Dunno,”  Peter shrugged.  He dropped his phone in the process and missed Tony’s response as he tried to pick it up again.  “There’s this good punch.  It’s kind of fruity, but it’s also sour.  It’s good,”  Peter told Tony.  

“You drank the punch?”  Tony all but yelled.  Peter pulled the phone away from his head, frowning at Tony’s loud voice.  Tony took a deep breath then said, “I’m coming to get you.  If you’re drunk when I get there you’re grounded until you die.”  Peter just grinned and Tony hung up.  When Peter realized Tony wasn’t there anymore, he put his phone back in his pocket and struggled to stand up.  If his dad was coming to the party, he should try some of the punch.  

Peter was standing in front of the house with a punch cup in each hand.  He had drank one and was arguing with himself about whether or not he should drink the other.  He hadn’t decided yet when Tony pulled up to the curb.  As soon as Peter saw him, he smiled sloppily and stumbled towards him.  Tony slammed the door as he got out and hurried towards Peter.  Peter held out the cup of punch when Tony was close enough.  

“Try it!”  he said.  Tony took the cup and dropped it on the lawn.  He then grabbed Peter and helped him stumble back to the car.  He was furious as he helped buckle the teenager in then pulled away from the house.  “What’s got you all grumpy-grumps?”  Peter giggled.  Tony took a deep breath to calm down before he dared to glance at Peter.  

“You’re drunk out of your mind,”  Tony said.  Peter nodded.  “Why, Peter?”  Tony asked, exasperated with everything that was going on.  Peter shrugged.  

“You never listen to me anymore,”  Peter told him, propping his head up on the window sill and looking outside.  “You’re always so busy with the Accords and the Avengers split up that you haven’t been very nice to me and I figured if I drank some of the punch, all the bad things would disappear and they did!”  Peter said, throwing his hands up happily.  Then he frowned and returned to looking out the window.  “Well, at least until you came,”  he mumbled.  Tony frowned and looked over at Peter.  

“You know I’m busy, kid,”  Tony told him. “That’s not new.”  

“But you hate me now,”  Peter said.  He turned sloppily and held up a limp finger. “That’s new!”  

“I don’t hate you, Peter,”  Tony replied.  “What makes you think I hate you?”  he asked.  They were nearing the Tower now, only about five minutes out, but Tony wanted to get to the bottom of when Peter had decided to drink.  

“I’m Spider-Man.”  Peter shrugged.  “I didn’t tell you.  There’s lots of reasons why,”  Peter told him.  Tony sighed and shook his head.  

“I don’t hate you, Peter,”  Tony said.  He knew Peter wouldn’t remember anything in the morning, but he made a mental note to ask him what was going on that made him want to drink.  Once he was sober and no longer suffering from a massive hangover, that is.  

“Am I grounded til I die?”  Peter asked as they pulled into the garage below Stark Tower.  The never stayed at the compound now.  Too many team memories they both wanted to avoid.  

“Yeah, buddy,”  Tony said.  He helped Peter out of the car and into the Tower.  “You’re grounded way past death.”  


	21. 15 Years Old: Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So some people requested a part two of the last chapter so here it is.

Peter woke up with a splitting headache.  He groaned and rolled over to block out the light streaming into his room.  His pillow did very little to help him, though, and he just groaned some more.  He couldn't remember anything after finding that miserable house party and Peter knew he could probably guess why.  If he had guessed correct, it would also explain his headache and why his spider senses were going off the walls.  

"Good morning, Peter,"FRIDAY said.Peter was certain his dad had turned up the volume of his AI.He wouldn't have been surprised if he had, either. 

"Morning, FRI,"Peter mumbled back.Slowly, he sat up, squinting around his room.He found some pain killers and a glass of water on his nightstand which he gratefully took.Once he had downed the pills, he stood up and stumbled towards the door.

He walked down the hall with one hand on the wall, guiding him into the living room.Tony was sitting on the couch, working from his laptop and acting as if he didn't know Peter was behind him.Peter sighed and walked into the living room, plopping down on the couch opposite his dad and burying his face in the throw pillows Pepper insisted made the place look nicer. 

"How do you feel?"  Tony asked.  He didn't look up from his laptop even though he wasn't working on anything.  

"Like crap,"Peter answered, voice muffled by the pillows.Tony nodded and glanced up at Peter.He was obviously hiding from the light even the dark curtains couldn't keep out."How long am I grounded for?"Peter asked.When Tony didn't answer immediately, Peter forced himself to turn his head so he could look at his dad.Tony was staring at him, but Peter couldn't tell why.His face was blank and Peter didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. 

"Why did you drink last night, Peter?"Tony finally asked.Peter wished he had the energy to look away from his dad, but he didn't. 

"Did I tell you when I was drunk or do you really not know?"  Peter replied.  Tony sighed and shut his laptop, setting it aside so he wouldn't appear distracted while they talked. 

"You didn't tell me everything, but you told me enough to recognize something was wrong,"  Tony said.  Peter closed his eyes, but Tony waited silently for him to answer his first question.  After a minute or two, Peter gave up on the silent game, but kept his eyes closed. 

"It's just, you're so busy working on the Accords and getting the Avengers reinstated—not that it's not important because it is—and I kind of feel like sometimes you don't want me around and that I'm just a pain,"  Peter said quickly.  He held his breath, waiting for Tony to say something but he stayed surprisingly quiet.  "I know they're important, but sometimes I feel like they're more important to you than me and ever since the battle in Leipzig I've just kind of felt really weird and I know it's not normal but you're too busy to talk to me so I just try to avoid being in the way." 

"I'm sorry, Peter,"  Tony said after a long pause.  He had waited to make sure Peter wasn't going to say anything else before talking.  "I don't really know what I'm doing right now with the Avengers and the Accords; I'm just trying to make things right again.  I'm sorry you feel like I've been ignoring you, though, because I haven't been meaning to."  Peter managed a small smile, but it didn't make Tony feel any better.  "I told Rhodes I needed a break from the deal making and everything,"  Tony said.  "You obviously aren't as okay after Leipzig as I thought and I'm gonna make sure you're okay before I start working on the Avengers stuff again, okay?"  This time when Peter smiled, Tony knew it was real. 

"Okay,"  Peter replied.  Tony smiled at him then got off his couch.  Peter didn't move from his, keeping his eyes closed.  "Do you have any magic hangover relief other than regular pain killers?"  Peter asked.  Tony glanced back at him as he walked into the kitchen to find breakfast food for the two of them. 

"Yeah,"  Tony answered.  Peter opened his eyes at that only to see Tony's back.  "I discovered the secret to it right after a hard night of partying that left me with a headache for days,"  Tony said.  He pulled open the fridge and looked around for some eggs he could cook. 

"Can I have some?"  Peter asked.  Tony grabbed the carton of eggs and stood up, shutting the fridge.  He smirked at Peter who frowned back. 

"No, it only works before you drink,"  Tony told him.  More confused than ever, Peter sat up.  "It's called abstinence.  Stay away from the stuff that causes the pain and you won't experience the pain,"  Tony said.  Peter rolled his eyes and groaned. 

"Not helpful,"  he muttered, going back to laying on the couch with his head buried in the pillow.  Tony just chuckled and got to work frying some eggs, telling Peter all about how he could have avoided his current situation by not drinking at all.  Needless to say, Peter stayed away from alcohol well after he reached the legal drinking age after that.  Not that Tony would have let him as he was grounded until he graduated college.


	22. 7 Years Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another requested chapter. Hope you enjoy it!

"Hey, Tony?"  Happy asked over the phone.  Tony hummed in reply, working on various paper work for Stark Industries.  "Did you have someone pick Peter up from school early?" 

"No, why?"  Tony asked, slowing down on his work and paying Happy only slightly more attention. 

"The teacher says some guy came in earlier and took him home,"  Happy replied.  Tony's blood ran cold and he dropped his pen.  "He's not here." 

"Make his teacher stay there,"  Tony said, picking up his phone and hurrying out of his office.  He pushed his way to the elevator and told FRIDAY to take him up.  "I'll be there in five minutes."  He hung up on Happy and raced down to the lab where his Iron Man suit was and climbed inside.  As soon as he was all suited up, he shot off towards the school. 

He arrived exactly five minutes later and only bothered taking off the mask as he walked inside.  The school was still being emptied, kids were wandering the halls but stopped when they saw Iron Man.  Tony didn't pay them any attention, though, walking down the hall to where he knew Peter's classroom was.  When he walked inside, he saw Happy staring down the teacher, Mr. Adams, who was sitting in the chair behind his desk. 

"Hi, I'd like to know why the hell you let someone take my son other than Happy and who the hell it was,"  Tony said, walking over to Happy and Mr. Adams.  Mr. Adams looked up in shock, obviously not expecting a full Iron Man appearance from Tony Stark.  He stumbled to his feet and rushed to explain.  

"He just came in and said he was here to pick up Peter for a doctors appointment,"  Mr. Adams said.  Tony frowned.  Peter would have been suspicious of the guy, too.  He knew he didn't have a doctors appointment and he knew only Happy was to pick him up. 

"Did he go willingly?"  Tony asked.  Mr. Adams shook his head. 

"No,"  he answered.  "The guy walked forward and picked him up out of his seat, but Peter started kicking and hitting him, saying he wasn't going to go.  I just assumed it was because he didn't like the doctors' office and told him he needed to quietly leave and then discuss it more in the car."  If Tony hadn't restrained himself, he would have turned Mr. Adams desk into wood shavings.  

"That wasn't suspicious?"  Tony yelled.  Mr. Adams jumped and Tony took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.  "Show me the security footage.  I want to see his face."  

* * *

Peter was huddled in the corner of the room, arms wrapped around his legs and his eyes on the guy in front of him.  He didn't want to be here.  Why did he have to be here?  It was scary and the people were rude to him.  He would rather be in Miss Letts' English class than here and he was certain she was a witch (she was definitely scary enough and had the pointy fingernails). 

"Are you scared, little boy?"  the man taunted.  Peter frowned.  He was seven; he wasn't a little boy. 

"I'm not a little boy,"  he replied.  "I'm a big boy.  And I'm not scared because I know my Daddy is gonna come get you!"  he said, his voice sounding more confident at the end than when he had started speaking.  "He said he'll always get the bad guys for me and he's gonna come get you!  You'll wish you never stole me!"  Peter said.  The man rolled his eyes, not seeming to be phased by Peter's sure statement.  He knew they would eventually confront Iron Man, but it would be on their terms with the kid to use as insurance that they wouldn't get killed. 

"Stupid kid,"  the man mumbled.  Upset at being called stupid, Peter got up from his corner and ran towards the man.  Surprising the man, Peter managed to kick his shin and punch his arms before the man grabbed him and roughly threw him back into the corner.  Peter's head hit the floor and he whimpered.  His arms were skinned up from sliding on the gravelly cement and his head hurt from hitting the ground.  When he looked up to see the man glaring at him, Peter went back to curling up in his corner, picking the gravel out of his bleeding arm. 

* * *

Tony was tired, frustrated, and easily irritable.It had been 37 hours since Peter had gone missing and all they had was a face and a name.The face and the name provided them with the knowledge that Peter was currently with wanted killers and that did the absolute opposite of calming Tony down.He had contacted SHIELD and the Avengers to help him find Peter before things went south, but even with their help they weren’t getting anywhere.Therefore, Tony was not in a good mood. 

“You’ve never come across these guys before?”Steve asked for the third time.Tony snapped the pencil he had been tapping and gave Steve a look.He raised his hands and backed away from Tony while Bruce moved closer to talk to him. 

“The good news is, he can’t be dead,”Bruce said softly, taking a seat beside Tony.Tony sighed and shook his head, dropping the pencil shards on the desk in front of him and folding his hands.“They want him for something, probably to get to you, so they can’t kill him.” 

“There are things worse than death, Bruce,”Tony reminded him.Bruce knew he couldn’t argue with that, so he didn’t say anything for a while. 

“We’ll get him back, Tony,”Bruce said eventually.“They’ll call and we’ll trace the call.Then we’ll go and find him.”Tony nodded numbly, only kind of listening to Bruce’s words.Bruce sighed and stood up to continue trying to find facial recognition on the man through stop light cameras and ATMs.As soon as he stood, Tony’s phone rang. 

“Hello?”Tony had answered the phone before it had even completed one full ring. 

“Hey, Tony,”the other voice said.“We have someone here that wants to say ‘hi’.Say ‘hi’ to Daddy, kiddo.” 

“D-Daddy?”Peter asked.His voice was quiet and obviously unsure who he was really talking to.Tony felt himself breath in relief at Peter’s voice then motioned for Bruce to start tracing the call. 

“Yeah,”Tony said softly.“Hey, kiddo.How are you doing?”He knew he needed to keep them on the phone as long as possible, but he also knew Peter was probably really scared.Besides, as long as he was talking to the kid he could be sure they hadn’t killed him. 

“I’m sorry, Daddy,”Peter said.“I tried to get away from them but Mr. Adams made me go and they’re being mean to me.”Tony knew he shouldn’t have expected Peter to remain unhurt, but he couldn’t help but wish. 

“What do you mean, Peter?”Tony asked, getting up to see how far they had managed to trace the call.It had managed to find an approximate location, now it was searching for the exact location. 

“They—”Peter’s voice was cut off and Tony almost punched the screen showing their tracing progress. 

“That’s all for now,”the other voice said.“We know you’re tracing us, Stark.We’ll let you.But you better come prepared to give up the suit or we’ll kill the boy.”The line clicked off just as JARVIS found the exact location. 

Tony threw his phone at the ground in frustration.It shattered upon impact but he didn’t care.They were expecting him to come to them.He had been expecting them to want to make a meeting place.They weren’t one step ahead; they were exactly where Peter’s kidnappers wanted them to be. 

* * *

Peter had started crying as soon as one of the men had taken the phone away from him.He just wanted to talk to his Daddy.He didn’t want to be stuck in this scary place any longer.He was tired, but didn’t want to go to sleep in case one of the men called Tony again.Besides, Peter never could sleep in strange places without someone he knew around.He didn’t feel safe enough too. 

“Don’t worry, kid,”  a man said, tossing him back in his corner.  Peter sniffled, wiping his nose with the back of his hand then burying his face in his knees.  “Daddy’s coming soon.”  

* * *

Despite knowing this was what the kidnappers wanted, Tony found himself outside their base an hour after the phone call with the rest of the Avengers.Bruce was waiting on the jet, monitoring their comms and making sure the jet would be ready for emergency take off if need be.He didn’t want to risk smashing Peter in a Hulk rampage. 

“Remember the plan?”Tony asked.They had gone over it several times, but no one pointed it out to Tony.They were all nearly as worried as he was about Peter and were more than willing to go over the plan until they could recite it in their sleep. 

“Yes,”everyone confirmed.On Tony’s signal, they all flooded the building and split up, looking for Peter and killing people as they saw them. 

* * *

Peter was sitting in his corner quietly when suddenly he was grabbed.He looked up to see the man who had grabbed him from school holding his arm.He stumbled to his feet as the man pulled him to the center of the room.Just as Peter was about to fight back and ask what was happening, the man put a gun to his head.Peter froze. 

“Make a sound and I’ll kill you,”the man threatened.Peter didn’t respond, not sure if the ‘make a sound and I’ll kill you’ Part was already applied or not.Almost as soon as the man had said that, Natasha burst into the room, gun raised and widow bites at the ready.She stopped short when she saw Peter. 

“Oh my gosh, Peter,”she said, looking at all the scraps and bruises that covered his arms and face.“Don’t worry.We’re getting you out of here.”The grip on Peter’s arm tightened and he whimpered, closing his eyes tightly as the gun was pressed against his head harder. 

“Where’s Stark?”the man demanded.Natasha frowned, moving her eyes from Peter to the man holding Peter at gun point.“The deal was he give up the suit and I give up the boy,”the man reminded her. 

“Yeah, we don’t do deals,”Natasha said.She raised her gun back up and the man looked at her.He opened his mouth to say something but fell to the floor, his body seizing as Natasha’s widow bites were activated.She lunges forward, pushing Peter to the ground and shooting the man in the chest, making sure he was dead before standing up and going over to Peter. 

He got up from the ground and turned to face Natasha.She knelt down in front of him and made sure none of his injuries were too serious.Once she was sure he would be okay, she picked him up and ran out of the room.Peter cling to her tightly as she raced out of the base and towards the jet where Bruce was. 

“I’ve got him,”Natasha told the team.She set Peter on a chair and Bruce rushed over to start cleaning out his various scrapes and putting ointment on his bruises.“He’s okay.A little scratched up, but he’ll be fine.” 

It didn’t take long for Tony to return to the jet after getting Natasha’s message.  Bruce had just finished putting the last bandaid (Iron Man, of course) on Peter’s elbow when Tony burst into the jet with the others close behind.  He tumbled out of his Iron Man suit and hurried over to Peter.  Peter threw his arms around Tony and started crying.  Tony carefully picked him up, setting him on his lap as the jet shot up into the air and headed back towards the Tower.  

“Shh,”Tony said, rubbing Peter’s back.“You’re okay.” 

“It was scary, Daddy,”Peter cried.Tony nodded and hugged Peter tighter. 

“I know, buddy,”Tony replied.“But you’ll never go back.I’ll make sure they can’t get to you anymore.” 

It took only twenty minutes to get back to the Tower.  Once they landed, Tony carried Peter (he had fallen asleep on the way) up to his bedroom.  He carefully changed Peter into some pajamas then laid him on his bed.  Tony climbed up beside him, brushing his fingers through his hair as Peter slept.  Peter curled up against Tony and tried to wrap his arms around him.  Smiling, Tony wrapped one arm around Peter and kissed the top of his head.  No one was ever going to take his kid again even if it meant Tony died keeping him safe. 


	23. 10 Years Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another requested chapter. I post requests in the order I get them so if you requested one and it isn’t up yet, don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten it. I write them down to make sure I don’t forget then work on them as they come in. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Tony was gone in Malibu for a business meeting Pepper insisted he go to.  That meant that Peter would be without his dad for three whole days.  Not that he minded terribly; Steve had volunteered to stay with him in the Tower and make sure he was okay.  Peter was more than willing to have Steve babysit him (although he didn’t like saying babysitter; he chose to call Steve his ‘watcher’) and Steve enjoyed staying with Peter even though he had school and was gone for most of the day. 

“Peter has returned to the Tower,”  JARVIS announced.  Steve jumped slightly, still not used to the voice randomly activating, then folded up his newspaper.  He got up from the couch and went into the kitchen to cut up an apple for Peter’s after school snack, knowing Peter would once again complain about it not being pop tarts (“Dad always lets me have them!”).  

“I’m back, Steve!”  Peter yelled, dropping his backpack right outside the elevator and running into the kitchen.  He jumped onto one of the stools at the island and Steve handed him a plate with apples and dipping caramel.  Peter grinned when he noticed the addition of caramel and happily ate the apples.  

“How was school, kiddo?”  Steve asked, leaning against the counter and watching Peter eat.  Peter chewed on his apple slice, making sure to swallow before answering.  

“It was good!  We’re going on a field trip to the American Museum of Natural History tomorrow so I need you to sign a permission slip,”  Peter said.  He jumped off his stool and ran to his backpack, pulling out and smoothing a crumpled piece of paper.  He hurried back into the kitchen and handed the paper to Steve.  

Steve pulled a pen out of a nearby drawer and glanced at the paper slip, reading it quickly before signing it and putting down the date.  He handed the slip back to peter who promptly shoved an apple slice in his mouth before returning the slip to his backpack.  Once he finished his apple slice, he continued telling Steve all about school and how he had been given loads of homework but he had finished it all in the car ride back to the Tower (“It was too easy.”)

“Can we watch Stars Wars since I’m done?”  Peter asked.  Steve nodded, taking the empty plate from Peter and washing it while Peter went to get the movie all set up and ready to watch. 

* * *

Steve had sent Peter to bed at exactly 8:30PM.  He had tucked him in then returned to the living room to clean up the popcorn mess and put away their blanket fort.  He put the couch cushions back on the couches and folded the blankets up before returning them to the blanket chest against the living room wall.  Once he had cleaned up, he grabbed a book and settled into the couch to read for an hour or two before he went to bed.  

It was 11:30 when JARVIS alerted Steve to Peter being in distress.  Steve bookmarked his book and hurried into Peter’s room.  He flicked on the bedside lamp and saw Peter thrashing around.  He knelt down beside Peter’s bed and gently shook him awake.  Peter woke up with a small scream and started crying.  Steve hurried to sit on the bed beside Peter and pulled him into his arms.  Peter cried against Steve’s chest, wrapping his arms around Steve and hugging him tightly.  

“You’re okay, Peter,”  Steve whispered, rubbing his back and holding him tightly. Eventually, Peter sniffled and pulled back to rub his face.  “What was the nightmare about?”  Steve asked.  Peter sniffled again before answering.  

“Daddy died,” Peter said softly.  Steve sighed and kissed the top of Peter’s head.  He spotted Peter’s Stark tablet on his nightstand and reached for it.  

“How about we call him just to make sure he’s alright?”  Steve suggested.  Peter instantly agreed.  It would only be about 8:30 PM aim Malibu, so Steve unlocked the tablet and searched for the FaceTime app.  When he found it, he tapped on a the contact that said ‘Dad!’.  He pulled Peter into his lap and they waited for Tony to answer.  It took multiple rings and Steve could feel Peter begin to worry something was wrong when Tony suddenly answered.  

“Hey, buddy,”  Tony said.  He had obviously answered while he was in the middle of signing something as he wasn’t looking at the screen.  The screen jostled around and soon Tony righted it so Peter could see his face.  “Aren’t you supposed to be asleep?  Do I have to talk to Steve about keeping you—Peter?  What happened, baby?”  Tony asked, looking concerned as he walked into an elevator. Pepper slipped in beside him, glancing at the screen with Peter and Steve in it.  

“I had a bad dream,”  Peter told Tony.  Tony frowned and asked what it was about.  “You died.”  

“Ah, buddy,”  Tony said.  Pepper moved to keep others from entering the elevator and they continued up to their floor.  “I’m okay.  Nothing bad it gonna happen to me, okay?”  Peter nodded and Tony directed his next sentence at Steve.  “You’ll probably have to stay with him for the night if that’s okay.  He usually stays with me after having nightmares,”  he said.  Steve nodded and glanced down at Peter who was just staring at his dad.  

“That’s fine,”  Steve said.  Tony nodded and followed Pepper out of the elevator to their room.  

“I’ve got to go, buddy,”  Tony told Peter.  Peter snapped out of his trance and nodded.  “You’ll be okay with Steve. Call me again if you need to.”  

“Okay,”  Peter said.  “I love you, Daddy.”

“I love you too, kid,”  Tony smiled.  He let Peter hit the disconnect button, not wanting to cut off the connection until Peter was ready.  

Steve put the tablet back on the nightstand and Peter crawled off his lap.  Steve tucked him back into bed, promising to return once he changed into his pajamas.  When he returned, Peter was fighting to stay awake.  Steve laid down beside Peter and let Peter decide how close to be to him.  He flicked off the lamp on Peter’s nightstand and waited for the kid to fall asleep before falling asleep himself.  


	24. 4 Years Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yet another request. Hope it matches up to what you wanted!

It was Christmas Eve eve and Peter was bouncing around the penthouse.  Tony was watching Pepper help Peter put on his jacket and boots on.  They were going to go find the best Christmas tree in all of New York and Peter was excited. It was his first Christmas with Tony and Pepper and all older two had decided to make it the best Christmas ever.  Apparently it wouldn’t take much, either, if what Peter had told Tony was true.  He had never had more than two presents and his mother was usually working late on Christmas, leaving him at home with a grumpy babysitter.  The kid had also never had a tree before and Tony thought that was an absolute disgrace.  

“You ready, Peter?”  Tony asked.  Pepper zipped up his jacket and Peter nodded, bouncing over to where Tony was standing by the elevator.  Pepper shrugged on her jacket and followed the two of them into the elevator.  Tony picked Peter up and they rode down to where Happy was waiting for them.  

Peter happily climbed into his car seat and Pepper slid in beside him, letting Tony take shot gun.  She helped Peter strap in and they headed off to a tree farm.  It wasn’t a terribly long drive, only about an hour, but Peter kept asking if they were almost there.  Finally, they pulled up and Happy stopped the car.  

Peter was out of his car seat as soon as Pepper unbuckled him.  Happy opened his door and Peter jumped out, stumbling forward and landing on his hands and knees in the snow.  He quickly bounced up, though, giving Happy a big smile as Tony and Pepper walking around the car. Pepper had her hands tucked into the crook of Tony’s arm and Peter grabbed his other hand.  Happy led the way into the tree farm where the three of them began to look for a tree.  

“Look at this one!”  Peter said, tugging Tony over to a scraggly looking tree that was just barely taller than Pepper.  “Can we get this one?”  Peter asked, pointing at the sad looking tree.  

“Are you sure you want this one?”  Tony asked.  He gestured to all the other trees, fuller and bigger than the one Peter was pointing at.  “All these ones are bigger.”  Peter firmly shook his head and pointed at the scraggly one. 

“If we don’t get this one, no one else will and then it won’t have a good Christmas,”  Peter told Tony.  “It’s gonna be sad on Christmas and nothing should be sad.  Not even trees.”  Tony nodded and told Happy to go find the tree guy.  

When the salesman saw Tony Stark, he first asked for a picture.  Tony begrudgingly took a picture with the man then paid for the tree.  The man tried getting him to buy a better tree, but Tony just told him what Peter had said and the tree was loaded onto the car.  They headed back to the Tower and Happy and Tony hauled the tree up to the penthouse.  By the time it was all set it, the tree looked even more pathetic, but Peter seemed happy so Tony didn’t say anything.  

“Let’s decorate it!”  Peter said.  And so they did; spending the rest of their evening decorating the penthouse and the tree until it looked like Christmas had thrown up in the Stark penthouse. 

* * *

Christmas Eve saw Tony getting off work early and joining Peter and Pepper in the penthouse at exactly 5:07 PM.  The two were playing Go Fish in the living room when Tony walked in.  He grabbed Peter from behind and tossed him up in the air.  Peter squealed in delight and hugged Tony’s neck tightly as soon as he was back in Tony’s arms.  Tony smiled and kissed his cheek before turning to see Pepper cleaning up the cards.  She smiled at the two of them then stood up with the packet of cards in hand.  

“Go get dressed warm,”  Tony told them. Pepper tilted her head, a curious smile on her face as Tony kissed her quickly.  “We’re going out for the evening,”  he said.  He set Peter on the ground and walked with him to his room.  He helped Peter change into a long sleeved shirt with a sweater.  Peter refused to wear his jacket, but Tony grabbed it anyway.  Peter pulled on his snow boots and followed Tony into his and Pepper’s bedroom.  Pepper was pulling on her winter jacket when they walked in.  

“Ready, Miss Potts?”  Tony asked.  She nodded and grabbed Tony’s winter jacket.  He shrugged it on then grabbed Peter’s hand and walked them both to the elevator.  

“Where are we going, Daddy?”  Peter asked.  The elevator dinged and they walked out of the reception floor and onto the streets of New York.  

“We are going to go see Santa, then we’re going to go ice skating, followed by hot cocoa, and finally, we will watch the fireworks,”  Tony told him.  They hadn’t even walked a block before Peter asked for his winter jacket.  Tony smiled and helped him put it on before they continued.  

Since it was winter, the sun was already down and it was dark out, making New York shine brighter with all the Christmas lights.  Peter held Tony’s hand tightly, his mittens matching Tony’s gloves.  Pepper held Tony’s other hand as they walked the four blocks to where Santa was supposed to be.  When they arrived, the line was so long Tony worried they would be there for three hours.  

“Can we just go ice skating instead of seeing Santa?”  Peter asked.  Tony looked down at him.  “I don’t really like Santa anyway.”  Tony nodded and they left the Santa line to go find the ice skating.  

They made it to the ice skating rink in five minutes where Pepper got them skates while Tony and Peter paid.  They met up with Pepper and Tony helped Peter put on his skates.  Once they were all ready, they stood up.  Well, Tony and Pepper did.  Peter remained seated, looking at the rink with apprehension.  

“Come here, kiddo,”  Tony said, holding out his hands for Peter.  “We’ll help you,” he said.  Peter reached for Tony’s hands, still sitting down, but couldn’t reach.  Tony sighed and helped him to his feet.  Pepper grabbed one of his hands while Tony held the other.  Peter stood on wobbly skates and didn’t move.  

“Alright Peter, we’re gonna move forward and you can just let us pull you,”  Pepper said.  Peter nodded, still looking nervous, and Pepper and Tony slowly moved forward.  

It was a slow process, making a lap around the rink.  By the second lap, Peter was able to scoot himself slowly as long as he could hold onto someone’s hand.  They didn’t do more than three laps before returning the skates and going to find some hot cocoa.  

They walked into a nearby shop and Tony went to order three hot cocoas (one with a straw) while Pepper and Peter found a table by the window.  They took off their jackets and draped them over the back of their chairs, setting mittens and gloves on the table.  Peter kept his hat and sweater on, though, and looked out the window at the New York streets.  

“Alright,”  Tony said, sliding into a chair beside Peter.  “Three hot chocolates.”  He handed the one with a straw to Peter then handed one to Pepper.  Peter immediately started drinking his hot cocoa before Tony could warn him it might be hot.  It didn’t seem to bother him, though, so Tony didn’t say anything.  

Once they had finished their hot cocoa, they bundled back up and walked to Times Square to watch the fireworks.  Tony put Peter up on his shoulders to keep him out of the way and give him a better view.  They didn’t have to wait long before the fireworks started up and the sky was lit up with various blues, reds, greens, and whites.  

* * *

The next morning, Peter found himself tucked up in Tony and Pepper’s bed.  He tried to curl closer to his dad only to discover he was alone in the big bed.  He sat up, wondering where his dad and Pepper had gone before remembering it was Christmas.  As soon as he remembered, he jumped out of the bed and raced into the living room where he found Pepper and Tony both sipping on coffee, curled up on the couch.  When they noticed Peter, they smiled.  

“Merry Christmas, kiddo!”  Tony said.  Peter was too busy staring at the pile of presents surrounding his scraggly tree.  He had never seen so many presents in his life.  

“Whoa,”  he said softly.  He looked up at Tony and Pepper.  “Are those all for me?” he asked.  They nodded and Peter jumped forward to hug them both.  “Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!”  he squealed.  He pulled back and Tony motioned towards the tree.  

“Are you just gonna let them sit and rot or are you gonna open them?”  Tony teased.  Peter’s eyes widened and he ran towards the stack of presents, pulling them down and beginning to open each one, thanking Tony and Pepper a thousand times after each one. 


	25. 19 Years Old

It had been five weeks since Gwen had broken up with him.  Peter had returned to school, heartbroken but able to push through for the last few weeks.  They were finally done for the year and so Peter was back in New York City in the Stark Tower.  They had never sold it.  Tony didn’t want to part with it and it turned out to be a good thing because they used it often.  It was also a good location for when Peter wanted to hang out with his friends from high school.  

“Ned!”  Peter yelled, running to hug his best friend as soon as he had walked out of the elevator.  Ned ran towards Peter, meeting him in the middle and the two hugged tightly.  “How have you been, man?”  Peter asked.  Ned shrugged, pulling away from Peter.  

“Better now that school’s out,”  Ned replied.  “How about you?” 

“Good,”  Peter said, a smile permaneny on his face.  He was about to ask Ned more about school when another voice piped up from behind Ned.  

“What am I?  Brussel sprouts?”  the voice asked.  Peter’s smile grew bigger and he pushed past Ned to see MJ.  She had just stepped out of the elevator and had a small grin on her face as well.  

“MJ!”  Peter said.  He reached forward and hugged her tightly, lifting her up just a bit.  She laughed and hugged him back.  When he set her down, he was still smiling.  “How has that fancy college you attend been?”  he asked.  MJ shrugged.  

“You know, same old, same old,”  she told him.  “A lot less interesting without you losers,”  she said.  Peter rolled his eyes and Ned cleared his throat.  Peter felt his face heat up when he realized he still had his arms around MJ and she still had hers around his neck.  They both let go and turned to face Ned.  

“We only have the summer to catch up, so what should we do first?”  Ned asked. Peter glanced at MJ who shrugged.  

“I have an idea,”  Peter said.  

* * *

The three of them stepped out of car and slammed the doors shut.  Peter had called ahead to make sure it was okay to go upstate and check out the Avengers Compound’s new lab (it was as long as none of them told Steve). They had been there before, but Tony and Bruce had recently upgraded the lab and they wanted to check out all the new inventions the two Science Bros had been working on.  Banner had been all for the idea, even promising to distract Steve so they could get inside and downstairs.  For some reason, Steve didn’t like the idea of the three of them messing around in the lab with Banner.  Something about causing an explosion the last time (“It wasn’t us! It was all Dad!” Peter had said.).  

“We just have to be quiet,”  Peter warned.  MJ and Ned nodded, following Peter to the back door of the compound. Peter entered his access code and the door unlocked.  He pushed Ned and MJ ahead of him and quietly shut the door.  He could hear voices upstairs thanks to his enhanced hearing and knew Bruce was distracting Steve.  He motioned for the other to follow him and they tip toed quickly into the lab.  As soon as they were safely inside, they let out breaths they hadn’t realized they were holding.  

“Welcome back, Mr. Leeds and Miss Jones,”  FRIDAY said.  All three jumped, having forgotten about FRIDAY.  

“Hey, FRIDAY,”  they all greeted.  Peter texted Bruce to say they were inside then began to login to the computer.  

“Hey, check this out!”  Ned said.  Peter and MJ looked up from the computer to see Ned holding what looked like a metal stick.  “I wonder what it does,”  Ned said curiously.  Peter realized what it was at the exact moment Ned found the power button.  

“Wait!”  Peter called out.  Too late.  Ned seized as the Natasha’s new ‘Widow Wands’ electrocuted him.  The wand went black as Ned released it and fell to the floor.  He groaned as Peter and MJ chuckled, returning to the computer.  

“Those hurt,”  Ned warned. 

* * *

The three of them spent the summer evenly divided between secret trips to the Avengers Compound, beach days, and museum visits.  Whatever they did, all three of them were there.  There was rarely a day where they didn’t get together in one way or another.  Even if they just gathered for dinner at Ned’s house or something, it was the three of them all summer long. 

In Peter’s defense, movie night was MJ’s idea.  It was Wednesday night, two weeks before they were headed their separate ways and MJ had told him there was a new movie she wanted to see.  Peter agreed to watch it with her, promising to have popcorn and take out ready if she promised to be on time.  

“I’m not the one who’s always late, Stark,”  MJ ahead teased.  Peter had rolled his eyes and hung up the phone before telling FRIDAY to order their regular take out order.  He felt bad about having a moving night without Ned, but at the same time, he kind of wanted a night with just him and MJ.  He refused to acknowledge that thought, though, convincing himself Ned wouldn’t want to watch a horror movie with them.  He had always been afraid of the smallest things.  

When the elevator dinged fifteen minutes later, Peter was in the living room, searching up the movie on the TV.  He could hear MJ walking into the kitchen and glanced back to see her digging through the bags of takeout.  

“Yours is the one closest to the sink,”  Peter told her.  MJ nodded and pulled out the noodles and rice.  She grabbed the chopsticks from the bag and opened the take out box.  Once Peter had the movie all set up, he joined her at the kitchen island to eat their food.  

They finished ten minutes later and Peter threw away the boxes while MJ walked into the living room.  Peter grabbed the popcorn and brought it into the living room, setting it on the coffee table.  He joined MJ on the couch, taking one of the blankets from her.  MJ rolled her eyes, tugging the rest of the blankets closer to her then leaning back as Peter started the movie.  

Peter wasn’t sure how it happened, but halfway through the movie, he realized he and MJ ahead scooted closer to each other.  He could feel her pressed up against him, blankets now shared between the two of them.  He wasn’t sure if he should do something about it or not when suddenly, something jumped on the screen and Peter let out a scream.  

MJ lost it.  Peter screamed and covered his face with the blanket, hiding behind MJ’s shoulder at the sudden jump scare.  Usually he wasn’t as easily scared with horror movies, but he had been focused on how close MJ a was and not the movie.  MJ seemed to find it hilarious, though, laughing her head off as the characters on screen screamed in horror.

“Oh my gosh, Peter!”  MJ laughed, trying to catch her breath.  Peter came out from his hiding spot and took a deep breath.  MJ still laughed, making Peter grin.  

“Wasn’t expecting that,”  he muttered.  MJ had begun to calm down, but still had a wild grin on her face.  

“I’d say,”  she said.  Peter rolled his eyes and MJ settles back down, leaning against Peter.  “I thought Spider-Man wasn’t scared of anything,”  she teased, looking up at him.  

“He’s not,”  Peter defended.  “At least, not when he expects it,”  Peter told her.  Now MJ rolled her eyes, but didn’t look away from Peter.  

Suddenly, Peter felt warmer than usual.  Was it the blankets?  Did FRIDAY turn up the heat?  It didn’t take Peter much longer to realize it was because MJ was so close to him.  He wouldn’t have to move very much to kiss her, he realized. It wouldn’t be that hard...

Before Peter could decide if it was a good idea or not, he found himself kissing MJ. She had made the first move, surprisingly, but Peter wasn’t about to pull away.  He kind of liked the feeling of her lips on his.  

She had begun to pull away just a bit, but Peter pulled her back in, kissing her once again.  He felt her smile against his lips and he couldn’t help but smile back.  They pulled away shortly after and smiled at each other.  

“So, are you gonna ask me out or just leave me hanging, loser?”  MJ asked quietly, her arm still around his neck.  Peter grinned. 

“How would you like to go on a date, Michelle Jones?”  Peter asked.  MJ rolled her eyes but continued to smile, not seeming to be able to stop herself.  

“Sounds okay, I guess,”  she replied.  Peter grinned and went back to kissing her, both of them ignoring the poor woman on screen being killed.  They were too focused on each other to finish the movie. 


	26. 11 Years Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a fun little chapter I made up. I got the idea from the one where Steve babysat Peter and Peter had a nightmare, so it starts out kind of similar.

Peter secretly liked Natasha the best out of all the Avengers.Not only did she help him with his homework, she taught him Russian (much to Tony’s chagrin), helped him plan pranks, and was ultimately the best babysitter ever.That’s why when Tony told Peter he had to go to Shanghai for a week, he begged his dad to leave him with Natasha instead of Steve.He liked Steve, but Natasha was better.He would never tell Steve that, though. 

”I’m home, Auntie Tasha!”  Peter called out.  He dropped his backpack in its honorary place by the elevator and walked into the living room.  Natasha was sitting on the couch, working on her laptop but smiled up at Peter when he entered the room.  

“How was school?”  she asked.  Peter grabbed his pop tart from the kitchen before telling her all about his day.  “You have your field trip tomorrow, right?”  she asked.  Peter nodded, cleaning up the crumbs from his pop tart then grabbing his Stark tablet.  

“You’re still coming, right?”  Peter asked. Natasha nodded.  She always went on field trips with him.  Tony and Steve were both too recognizable and Tony never wanted Peter to be alone if something bad happened.  He was also worried about someone kidnapping Peter while he was out of his reach.  It wasn’t an unreasonable fear, unfortunately, so Natasha got to go on every field trip as a chaperone.  

“Yep, and we’re getting ice cream with Ned and MJ afterwards,”  Natasha said.  Peter happily nodded and started on his homework after texting his dad that he was home.  

* * *

The next morning, Happy drove them to Peter’s school bright and early.  The bus would be leaving at 7:30, so they had to be there earlier than normal.  Peter was easy to get up on field trip days and Natasha was naturally a morning person, so they were both ready on time and able to get to school right on time.  

“Hey, Peter!”  Ned called, waving wildly at his friend.  Peter glanced at Natasha who nodded, giving him permission to join Ned, then ran towards his friend.  Natasha checked in with the teacher who was shocked to see Black Widow would be joining them.  Since it was the first field trip of the year, Natasha had to explain why she was there and that she should be expected to show up on every other field trip, that wasn’t a problem right? 

“Of course not!”  Mr. James said, fumbling with his clipboard as Natasha raised an eyebrow at him.  “We have lots of parents chaperone.  Not a problem at all,”  he promised.  Natasha smiled and went to find Peter, Ned, and MJ happily talking about the robots they would get to see at the museum.  

“Hi, Miss Natasha!”  Ned said.  He had gotten very comfortable around her seeing as she was always with them on field trips.  He still got star struck around Steve.  

“Hello, Ned,”  Natasha smiled.  She gave him a hug then stood behind Peter as he continued to talk to his friends.  Soon, though, it was time to load the bus.  Natasha was used to Peter leaving her in the front to join his friends in the back and took a seat right behind Mr. James while Peter, Ned, and MJ moved to two seats further back on the bus. 

* * *

The robotics museum was one of coolest places Peter had been too.  He and Ned wouldn’t stop talking about it the whole way back to school.  They talked so loud, MJ left them to join Natasha up front, wanting to read in peace.  Sure, it had been cool but she didn’t want to talk about it for an hour when she could be reading the new book she got.  

Natasha made room for the young girl easily and left her to read on her own.  She knew not to bother MJ with questions about the museum, so she just sat quietly beside her until they reached the school.  

After Mr. James had talked to his class briefly about the museum, he dismissed them early.  They had two hours before school normally got out, but Natasha had anticipated this and had called for Clint to come get them earlier.  She found him standing outside a large SUV, leaning against it casually with sun glasses on.  She shook her head, a smirk appearing on her face as she pointed him out to Peter. He usually joined them for ice cream after field trips.  Ned and MJ were just as familiar with him as they were with Natasha.  

“Hi, Uncle Clint!”  Peter said.  Clint smiled and climbed into the driver’s seat.  Natasha climbed in the passenger seat while the boys climbed into the very back, leaving the middle seats for MJ. 

”Hey, kid,”  he replied.  “How was the museum?”  MJ groaned and shrunk down in her seat, burying her face in her book.  Clint gave Natasha a worried look, but she waved him off.  

“ _They talked about it the whole way here,_ ” she said in Portuguese.  “ _She liked it; just wants to read._ ”  Clint nodded in understanding before listening to Peter who was happily telling him brought every single thing they saw.  

“It was just so cool!”  Peter finished as they arrived at the ice cream parlor.  

MJ was the first one out of the car.  Before Clint had even turned off the engine, she was out of the car and walking towards the parlor.  Natasha followed her inside, leaving Clint to deal with the boys.  They walked inside a few seconds after Natasha and MJ had and immediately went to look at the ice cream flavors.  

“Uncle Clint?”  Peter asked.  Clint looked up from his conversation with Natasha to focus on the little Stark.  “Can I try this flavor?”  Clint nodded and relayed the question to the young teen behind the counter.  The teen took a spoon and dug it into the bin before handing it to Clint who handed it to Peter.  After Peter decided he liked it, Clint order a medium cone for Peter.  Ned and MJ chose their flavors and the three of them sought out stools at the high table in front of the store window.  Natasha and Clint got their own ice creams, paid, then joined the kids at the table.  


	27. 16 Years Old

Peter was exhausted.  School was getting close to ending which meant tests were coming at him nearly every day, stressing him out even if they were fairly easy for him.  It also felt as if bad guys were sprouting up more and more, making his work as Spider-Man harder and more tiring.  He loved being Spider-Man, but he knew if his dad found out how much stress he had been under for the past month, Spider-Man would have to be put on hold until school was over.  

He had just arrived back at Tower, Happy had dropped him off then left to pick up Pepper from the airport, and was headed up to the penthouse.  He paid no attention to those in the lobby as he entered the elevator and pressed the top floor button.  He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.  He didn’t expect to actually fall asleep and was surprised when he jumped awake at the sound of the elevator dinging.  

He dropped his backpack and walked into the kitchen.  He grabbed a snack then stumbled down the stairs to find his dad. Just as he had thought, Tony was busy working in the lab.  He greeted Peter as he walked in but didn’t look up from his project.  

“Hey, come help me for a minute,”  Tony said.  Peter walked over to where Tony was and held a wire down while Tony fastened a screw.  When he was done, he told Peter he could let go.  Peter didn’t move, though.  “Pete?  You good, kid?”  he asked.  Peter snapped awake, shaking his head then looking at his dad.  

“Sorry, what?”  he asked.  Tony raised an eyebrow at him and Peter let go of the wire.  

“How much sleep have you been getting?”  Tony asked.  Peter shrugged, stumbling backwards and sitting down in his dad’s computer chair.  

“Enough,”  Peter answered.  Tony didn’t look like he believed Peter, but didn’t question him anymore.  Peter leaned back in the chair, propping his feet up on the desk and closing his eyes.  

“Don’t you have homework?”  Tony reminded him.  Peter groaned, but didn’t get up.  “Go get you homework, Peter.”  Peter groaned again, louder this time, and walked back upstairs to do his homework.  

* * *

Tony walked upstairs three hours later, expecting Peter to be working on his homework or a note on the fridge saying he was out on patrol.  He didn’t expect the kid to be fast asleep in the living room, face resting on his chemistry book that was laying on the coffee table.  Tony frowned, but didn’t go and wake him up. Instead, he walked into the kitchen to make some spaghetti.  When Peter still hadn’t woken up after the spaghetti was done, Tony went to wake him up.  

“Hey, kid,”  he said, kneeling in front of Peter.  Peter moaned as he sat up and rubbed his eyes.  “Dinner’s ready.”  Peter nodded and followed his dad into the kitchen.  

Dinner was eaten silently.  Peter looked like he could fall asleep any minute and Tony watched him worriedly.  After dinner, Peter washed his plate and walked into his bedroom.  Tony thought he was just headed to bed early, but when FRIDAY announced Peter had left the Tower as Spider-Man, Tony frowned.  

“Monitor his vitals closely,”  Tony told her.  He finished cleaning up from dinner then went to continue working in the lab until Peter returned.  

* * *

When Peter returned, it was well past midnight and Tony was worried.  He was sitting on Peter’s bed when Peter walked into the room and flicked on the light.  He gave a small yell and jumped at the sight of Tony sitting on his bed.  

“Hey, Spider-Man,”  Tony said.  “Thought we had a curfew.”  

“I know!  I’m sorry, there were this group of bad guys I saw on my way back and it took me a while to get them webbed up and sent to the police,”  Peter said.  Tony didn’t buy it and Peter could tell.  

“Okay, that’s a nice story,”  Tony told him.  “How about the truth now?”  Peter sighed and sat on his bed beside Tony, mask off but suit still on.  

“I just needed to stay out later,”  Peter said.  “I’ve been getting out later and later so there’s more things to stop.  It’s okay, though.  I’m good.”  

“Were you planning on sleeping now?”  Tony asked.  Peter just looked at the floor and Tony got his answer.  “Hey, what’s going on, kid?  I know it’s not nothing, either, so don’t try and pull that crap with me.”  

“It’s just, it’s finals and so I have to study like crazy and then there’s decathlon meetings which take time,”  Peter said, twisting his mask in his hands as he talked.  “I also have to help you in the lab and by the time I get back from patrol, it’s really late but I still need to study so, yeah.”  

“How much sleep have you been getting?”  Tony asked.  Peter shrugged.  

“Maybe an hour or two every night,”  he said quietly.  Tony took a deep breath and nodded.  “Please don’t take away Spider-Man, though!  It’s the only thing keeping me sane!”  Tony chuckled and shook his head.  

“Sorry, kid,”  Tony said.  “I’m gonna need you to stop being Spider-Man until finals are over unless you can promise me you’ll get a full eight hours of sleep every night.”  Peter gaped at him before telling him that was impossible.  Tony shrugged.  “Then I’ll need Spider-Man.”  

“But, Dad!”  Peter exclaimed.  

“Peter, I’m just trying to keep you healthy,”  Tony told him.  Peter felt tears prickling his eyes and forced himself to keep them back.  “I’m calling your school and pretending you’re sick.  You’re going to spend all day catching up on sleep then I’ll help you study every night until finals are over.  If you have time, I’ll let you go out as Spider-Man for an hour.”  Peter nodded and Tony sighed.  

“I know, it’s for my own good,”  Peter said before Tony could.  Tony nodded and forced Peter to lay down.  

“Now go to sleep,”  he said.  Peter nodded and Tony got up from his bed.  He flicked off the light then turned back to Peter.  “Goodnight, kid.  I love you.”  

“Love you too,”  Peter mumbled, rolling onto his side to get more comfortable.  Tony hadn’t even shut the door before Peter was fast asleep.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this one isn’t as good and I’m sorry. I didn’t really know what to do with this request, but I tried my best. I hope you liked it, though. Again, sorry it sucked so much.


	28. 25 Years Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an idea I thought up and I think you might like it. Let me know if you like it or not!

Peter woke up to an empty bed.  Frowning, he sat up and looked around the bedroom, but it was empty.  Peter rubbed his eyes and slowly got out of bed.  He pulled on sweat pants then meandered down the hallway shirtless, still half asleep.  He walked into the kitchen and smiled when he found what he had been looking for.  In his dazed state, Peter wrapped his arms around his wife and nuzzled his face in the crook of her neck.  

“Good morning, birthday boy,” MJ said softly.  She leaned back and kissed his cheek before returning to her pancake making.  It was a strange sight: MJ making breakfast.  Usually their hired maid would make it and MJ would be reading when he woke up.  

“Morning,”  Peter replied groggily.  MJ poured the last of the pancake batter into the frying pan then wiggles out of Peter’s arms.  Peter took a seat at the island and watched as she washed the mixing bowl and grabbed two plates.  

“We should leave in an hour if we want to be on time to your birthday party at the Compound,”  MJ told him.  Peter nodded, grinning as she passed a plate of pancakes and a fork.  She sat beside him and they ate breakfast silently.  Once they were done, Peter grabbed both plates and washed them while MJ went to take a shower and get ready.  

* * *

An hour and fifteen minutes later, Peter and MJ were pulling into the Compound.  MJ grabbed the bag she had packed from the backseat and they headed up to the Compound.  

Peter didn’t bother knocking, just walked right inside.  He was greeted by the sight of Clint and Sam arguing over the last Wii remote, Cooper and Lila holding the other Wii remotes, Nathaniel happily playing with Legos, Ned rolling his eyes as he started the Mario Kart game without Clint or Sam, Steve tying balloons to various chairs and furniture, Tony and Rhodes stacking presents in the center of the living room, Natasha and Pepper setting food on the counter, Vision and Wanda talking quietly on a couch, and Scott happily shouting a greeting at them with Cassie grinning beside him.  

“Happy birthday, Peter!”  Scott and Cassie yelled.  Peter smiled and scooped Cassie up in his arms.  She hugged him tightly then squirmed out of his arms, not liking to be held for very long.  At hearing Scott’s greeting, all the others turned and yelled too.  

“Happy birthday!”  they collectively shouted.  Peter smiled and shut the door behind him and MJ.  MJ walked into the kitchen and dug into her bag, pulling something out and handing it to Natasha and Pepper while Peter walked into the living room.  

“Hey, guys,”  he said.  He snatched the Wii remote out of Sam’s hands and sat down beside Ned.  Sam rolled his eyes, kicking Peter as he sat on the couch.  Peter flared at him but only briefly.  

It wasn’t long before Natasha, MJ, Laura, and Pepper announced the food was ready.  The Wii game was stopped and everyone crowded into the kitchen to get food.  The table was barely big enough to fit everyone, but they made it work.  Once everyone had finished their food, Pepper pulled the very large cake from the fridge.  They lit the candles and set it in front of Peter before singing happy birthday.  They had barely finished the song when Nate (who was sitting on Peter’s lap) blew out the candles for Peter.  

“Nate, Peter was supposed to blew those out,”  Lila said.  Peter just laughed as Nate’s face got red and he tried to apologize.  

“It’s fine, Nate,”  he said.  “I hope your wish comes true.”  Pepper handed Peter the knife and he cut the cake, letting Nate pass it out as he cut the pieces.  

After cake was presents.  Everyone sat down in the living room, some on the floor while some (Wanda, Cassie, and Nate) sat on laps.  Peter looked at the pile of presents, not sure where to start. He didn’t have to worry when Cassie handed her present to him, demanding he open it first.  

With so many presents, opening them took a while.  Eventually, there was only one left.  MJ grinned as she held out the gift bag for Peter to open.  He took it from her and pulled the tissue paper out.  Inside, he found a small box.  He pulled it out, setting the bag aside, and opened it.  He was confused when he found nothing but a card inside.  He glanced at MJ, but she just smiled at him.  

He opened the envelope and pulled out the card.  The front just said ‘Congratulations!’ in cursive with a clip art gift box.  Peter opened the card and something fell out.  He grabbed it and turned it over, recognizing it as a picture.  He looked at it closely, seeing what looked like a thermometer with two pink lines.  He quickly read the short note inside to confirm his thoughts. 

_I hope you like changing diapers, cause youre gonna have to in about eight months. - Love Michelle_

Peter looked up at MJ, shock clear on his face.  Her smile had grown exponentially since the last time he had looked at her and she nodded, answering his silent question.  Peter lunged forward, wrapping her up in a tight hug and feeling tears well up in his eyes.  

“Best present ever,”  he whispered.  She laughed and pulled away, wiping the tears (she had expected him to tear up) from his cheeks.  

“Well you can’t just leave us hanging,”  Sam said.  Peter pulled away from MJ and grinned at everyone in front of him, his eyes stopping on his dad.  

“I’m gonna be a dad.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what did you think? Yay? Nay? Please let me know!


	29. 14 Years Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A cliche request, but a good one nonetheless. Enjoy!

Tony was suspicious.  Peter had always loved school, coming home and talking about everything he had done that day and what exciting things he had learned. Ever since he had started high school, though, he seemed less and less excited to go to school.  At first, Tony just assumed it was because high school was harder, but when he asked Peter, he just said high school wasn’t much harder than middle school.  Tony tried asking why Peter didn’t like school as much, but Peter always shrugged it off and changed the subject.  Tony began to get really suspicious when he noticed bandaids disappearing from the medical cabinet and Peter often limping off the elevator.  

“Hey, Dad!  I’m home!”  Peter yelled.  Tony walked out of his bedroom just in time to see Peter stealing an ace bandage from the medical cabinet.  He had been waiting to catch Peter in the process, not sure how else to approach him, and made his presence known. 

“How about you tell me why you need that?”  Tony said.  Peter jumped then visibly grimaced in pain, clutching at his ribs.  Immediately worried, Tony hurried into the kitchen where Peter was at.  “Hey, kid, what happened?”  Tony asked.

“Nothing!”  Peter lied.  “I just fell from the rope in PE, it’s nothing bad!”  Tony gave him a skeptical look and motioned for Peter to lift up his shirt.  Reluctantly, Peter did as he was told and Tony almost screamed at how awful his ribs looked.  

“Peter Stark!  You did not just fall off a rope,”  Tony said.  Peter rolled his eyes but Tony grabbed his arm, leading him towards the elevator and taking them down to the medical wing.  

“Dad, I’m fine,”  Peter insisted.  Tony ignored him, taking him directly to Bruce and sitting him on the bed.  

“Fix him and make him tell you what really happened,” Tony demanded.  Bruce raised an eyebrow at him then turned to Peter.  Peter slowly pulled off his shirt, revealing a very bruised, very purple abdomen.  

“Dang, kid,”  Bruce muttered.  “What happened?”  

“Said he fell from the rope in gym, but I don’t believe it,”  Tony said.  Bruce nodded and sent Tony out to get an x-ray room ready.  He locked the door and shut the blinds after him then turned to Peter.

“Alright, Peter,”  Bruce said.  “What really happened?”  Peter sighed and looked at his lap, fiddling with his fingers.  Bruce waited patiently for Peter to answer his question.  Once Peter realized they weren’t leaving until Bruce got the truth, he sighed.  

“There’s these kids at school,”  Peter began quietly.  “They started bullying Ned at the beginning of the year and I told them to stop.  They did, but then they started bullying me.”  

“How long ago did this start?”  Bruce asked.  “The physical bullying.”  Peter shrugged.  

“Three of four months ago,”  he answered.  Bruce nodded and went to unlock the door.  

“You know I have to tell your dad, right?”  Bruce said, guiding Peter down the hall to the x-ray room.  Peter nodded solemnly, sliding behind the x-ray machine while Bruce stayed outside to run it.  

* * *

When Bruce allowed Tony back into the room, he told both Tony and Peter what the x-rays had uncovered.  Peter had broken two ribs and fractured one more. They would heal, but until they did, Peter was going to be in pain.  Bruce handed Tony some pain medication then glanced at Peter.  He looked down, avoiding his dad’s gaze as Bruce told him what Peter had said.  When he finished, Tony was silent.  

“I’ll leave you two,”  Bruce said after a few seconds.  He turned and walked out of the room, shutting the door carefully behind him.  Tony sighed and walked over to sit on the bed beside Peter who now had bandages all around his abdomen.  

“I’m gonna talk to the school,”  Tony said after a minute or two.  Peter looked up at him, but Tony was busy staring out the room’s window.  “You’re staying home for at least a week; long enough so you won’t limp around school.  I’m also going to talk to those bullies.”  

“It’s okay, Dad,”  Peter said.  Tony looked up at Peter, but Peter cut him off before he could say anything.  “It doesn’t bother me.  If they don’t bulky me, they’ll hurt Ned and I don’t want that,”  Peter said.  

“Peter, they broke your ribs!”  Tony reminded him.  Peter rolled his eyes.  “When I ran to them, I’ll make sure they know to leave both of you alone.”  

“But—” 

“Nope!  No buts!”  Tony interrupted.  “Now, you’re going up to bed to rest and I’m going to go talk to some bullies, okay?”  

“Fine,”  Peter said.  He slid off the bed and followed Tony out of the medical wing.  “If they bully Ned, though, I’m gonna make them stop.”  Tony, wrapped his arm around Peter’s shoulders as they walked into the elevator.  

“I wouldn’t expect anything else,”  Tony said.  “But if they bully you again, tell me and I will get them expelled.” 


	30. 17 Years Old

Wednesday’s in general sucked.  No matter what, Tony almost always had an awful Wednesday.  Even if nothing bad happened, he hated the day.  Nothing special happened; there wasn’t anything to look forward to like movie night or the end of the week.  Wednesday’s were just awful.  

Today, however, things were particularly awful.  Pepper had called, obviously in a panic, to tell him she had forgotten to tell him about a meeting he had.  He had ten minutes to get to the 34th floor’s conference room. That was just the beginning.  

He had managed to spill coffee all down his shirt in the middle of the meeting, having to stop it so he could go change.  Then Happy called in sick so Tony had to personally drive (which wasn’t the worst thing) Rhodes to the airport.  After that, Tony had been called to the Avengers’ Compound due to a pipe breaking and flooding his lab.  He had spent all afternoon trying to get plumbers to come fix the pipe.  In the end, all his papers had been ruined and his latest tech had been destroyed as well.  To top it all off, he had to fly to New Jersey last minute for yet another meeting and wouldn’t be back until late that night.  

“Mr. Stark?  Are you with us?”  John Palmer asked.  Tony snapped back to attention, looking up at the current presenter.  

“Yeah, sorry,”  he said, straightening up and leaning forward to appear interested in whatever was going on (he honestly had no clue).  “Continue.”  The man did and Tony just zoned out again.  The only thing he could think about was getting back home and seeing his son.  Surely that would make this absolutely horrid day better.  

The meeting ended two hours later and Tony had to restrain himself from running out and getting on his jet as soon as they were dismissed.  He stuck around for fifteen minutes, talking to people he figured Pepper would want him to talk to, before leaving for his jet.  

As soon as his jet was in the air, Tony relaxed.  He checked his phone to make sure he hadn’t missed any urgent texts from Peter, but didn’t have any missed texts at all.  At least he didn’t have a million people to reply to.  

Happy picked him up from airport and drove him to the Tower in silence.  Tony thanked him then took the elevator up to the penthouse.  He half expected Peter to be asleep on the couch, having fallen asleep waiting for him to get back, but he was nowhere in sight.  Tony frowned and walked down the hall.  He peered into Peter’s room and smiled when he saw Peter fast asleep on his bed.  

Tony walked into his son’s room and sat on the bed beside him.  Peter woke up with the slight jostle and squinted at Tony.  Tony just smiled at him and ran his fingers through Peter’s hair.  

“Dad?”  Peter asked.  Tony nodded and Peter rubbed his eyes, sitting up in his bed.  “What’s wrong?”  

“Nothing, kiddo,”  Tony replied.  Peter frowned, not buying Tony’s lie and crawled over to Tony.  Tony let Peter wrap him up in a hug.  “I just had a bad day,”  Tony told him.  

“I’m sorry,”  Peter said, leaning against Tony, still not entirely awake.  “Would candy make it better?”  Peter asked.  Tony chuckled and rubbed Peter’s back.  

“I don’t think so, Pete,”  Tony replied.  He kissed Peter’s head and Peter snuggled closer to him.  

“Okay,”  Peter replied sleepily.  Tony stayed with Peter for a little while longer before letting Peter lay back down.  Peter smiled sleepily as Tony tucked him in again.  “Good night, Dad,”  Peter mumbled, snuggling into his blankets.  “I love you.”  

“I love you too, kiddo,”  Tony said, smiling down at a sleeping Peter before leaving the room quietly.  


	31. 15 Years Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another cliche one, but I like it and it was requested, so here we go.

Peter found his dad working in the lab on another Iron Man suit.  He walked over and placed a permission slip on the table in front of him.  Tony frowned and looked down at it.  He reached for a pen after realizing it was another field trip slip and quickly signed it.  

“Where are you going?”  Tony asked.  Peter took the permission slip back and shoved it in his backpack that had (surprisingly) made it further than the elevator doors today.  

“The Compound,”  Peter said.  Tony frowned, wondering which compound.  “The Avengers’ Compound.”  Tony smirked, thinking about how Clint and Sam would both be there.  

“Wow, I’m sure you’ll love it,”  Tony teased.  Peter rolled his eyes and sat down at his own desk in their lab.  

“Please tell everyone to just act like they don’t know me,”  Peter said.  “I really don’t need Flash bugging me about this.”

“I’ll see what I can do,”  Tony said.  “No promises, though.”  

“Never can promise anything when Uncle Clint and Uncle Sam are involved,”  Peter muttered, turning to focus on his latest project.  

* * *

Happy dropped Peter off at school right at 7 when he was supposed to show up.  Peter waved goodbye then joined Ned and MJ by the bus after handing his signed permission slip to the teacher.  Thankfully, he had managed to talk his dad out of sending Natasha with him on field trips once he got to high school (“It’s obvious I know the Avengers when she shows up and I don’t want people to be fake friends!”).  

“So, how much do you want to bet Flash embarrasses himself?”  Ned asked.  Peter shrugged, glancing over at Flash who was talking loudly about how he was going to work for the Avengers over the summer.  

“Do any of us doubt that he will?”  Peter asked.  Ned and MJ both shook their heads.  “Besides, I’m more worried about who will embarrass me first.”  

“Good luck,”  MJ smirked.  Peter rolled his eyes as they began to load the bus, following MJ back to their usual seats.  

* * *

The drive to the Compound wasn’t that long; only about an hour in a bus full of excited teens.  When they arrived, Peter, MJ, and Ned stayed near the back of the group.  Peter didn’t want to be recognized and the other two had been to the Compound multiple times before, so it wasn’t terribly exciting.  Unfortunately, their tour guide was none other than Steve Rogers (“Of course he would volunteer.”).  

“Alright, we’ll start on the ground floor and make our way up,”  Steve said.  They ground floor consisted mainly of offices where various agents (some SHIELD and others CIA) worked during the day.  The second floor was where the training rooms were at.  Peter didn’t expect Steve to make them stop, but they ended up watching Natasha beat Clint easily.  Everyone clapped, immediately alerting the two to the fact they had been watched.  Clint muttered something to Natasha in another language as she helped him to his feet to join the group of students.  

“This is Agent Romanoff and Agent Barton,”  Steve introduced.  “Otherwise known as Black Widow and Hawkeye.”  Peter wasn’t the only one to notice Natasha was wearing only a sports bra and spandex, her usual workout attire. While he was used to it, the other guys weren’t.  

“Eyes up or I’ll beat you all into cat food,”  Natasha threatened.  That was enough to get the boys’ attention off her.  Unfortunately, she hadn’t just noticed their stares.  She smiled at Peter and he smiled back.  Clint noticed.  

“Hey!  Peter’s here!”  Clint exclaimed.  Peter held back a groan and gave an awkward wave to Clint.  “Stark said you were coming.  He also said not to embarrass you...”  Clint trailed off and glanced at Natasha.  She hissed something in Russian and Clint rolled his eyes.  

“Yeah,”  Peter muttered.  It was too late, though; Flash had heard the conversation and was obviously thinking about how he was going to talk to Peter about it later.  

“Let’s move on,”  Steve said, joining Natasha in glaring at Clint.  As they left, Peter heard Natasha cussing him out in Russian.  

They managed to get through all the floors without running into any of the other Avengers.  Their teacher had dismissed them for lunch after the tour and everyone had spread out across the lawn to eat their sack lunch.  Peter, MJ, and Ned sat near the edge of the lawn near the forest and ate quietly.  

“Hey, Penis!”  Flash called.  Peter looked up from his sandwich to see Flash and his friends walking towards them.  Ned glanced at Peter, a look of concern flashing across his face.  “What was that?  The little skit back there with Hawkeye.”  

“It wasn’t a skit, Flash,”  Peter muttered. Flash rolled his eyes.  

“Sure,”  he said.  “Tell me the truth.”  Peter wouldn’t have anyway, but Wanda definitely ruined whatever smart thing he was going to say by dropping down between him and Flash.  By the look of pure terror in Flash’s eyes, Peter knew Wanda’s eyes were still red.  

“Are you bothering Peter?”  Wanda asked, Sokovian accent thick.  Flash shook his head quickly, eyes wide.  “Good.  Now leave.”  Flash didn’t need to be told twice.  

“Wanda?”  Vision landed next to her.  She smiled sweetly at him then turned to face Peter and his friends.  “Oh, hello,”  Vision greeted.  

“Hey, Vision,”  Ned grinned.  MJ just waved, continuing her book.  

“Thanks, Wanda,”  Peter said.  Wanda just nodded then flew back to the Compound, Vision in tow. 

* * *

The day at the Compound was almost over.  As part of the field trip, they were allowed to join the Clint, Natasha, and Steve for a training session, watch the scientists work, or ask the rest of the Avengers questions.  Peter, Ned, and MJ had settled on the couches in the living room where the questions were happening, not interested in any of the activities.  

Peter had been good all day; only Clint had screwed up, San hadn’t even said anything.  They only had another hour before they would be safe and on the bus, but Tony had to show up.  

“It’s Tony Stark!”  a kid yelled.  Everyone looked up as Tony walked into the room with a smirk.  He waved at the group of kids then pointed to Peter.  Everyone turned and looked at him.  

“I need you for a second, kid,”  Tony said.  Peter’s face felt hot as he stood up and followed Tony around the corner.  

“Dad!  What are you doing?”  Peter demanded.  

“I already talked to your teacher, but I need you to stay here tonight,”  Tony said.  Peter frowned and asked why.  “I have to fly to Chicago; some last minute thing.  I have all your stuff in your room already.”  

“You could have just texted me,”  Peter muttered.  Tony rolled his eyes.  

“No, I had to talk to your teacher,”  Tony reminded him.  “You’ll be fine.”  

“I know,”  Peter said.  Tony hugged Peter and kissed his head.  “I love you,”  he muttered against Tony’s chest.  

“Love you too, kiddo,”  Tony replied.  He pulled back and ruffled Peter’s hair.  “I’ll be back on Monday.  You’re here for the weekend.”  Peter nodded and walked back around the corner where he found his classmates (particularly Flash) staring at them wide eyed.  Sam awkwardly scratched the back of his neck then looked up at them.  

“You’re kind of loud talkers for how thin the walls are,”  he said.  Peter’s face got hot as he realized that meant his classmates had heard everything he’d said to his dad.  

“Wait, you’re his dad?”  Flash yelled, pointing at Tony.  Tony nodded, wrapping an arm around Peter’s shoulders.  “I-I’m his best friend!”  Tony scoffed.  

“Sure,”  he replied.  Flash frowned.  “I know you’re the one that bullies him.  If I hear about anymore bullying, I’ll destroy any chance you have of getting into a reasonable college, understand?”  Flash nodded rapidly.  “Great!  I will see you all later!”  Tony squeezed Peter’s shoulder then left.  

“So much for a quiet day,”  Ned muttered as Peter rejoined him on the couch.  

“Yeah,”  Peter agreed.  “There goes that secret.” 


	32. 5 Years Old

If Tony had thought about it, he would have realized this was a bad idea.  However, he was well known for not thinking things through, which is how he winded up driving a suburban full of hyped of Avengers and a 5 year old.  At Peter’s request on a lazy Sunday morning, they were headed to the zoo with the Avengers all crammed into one car (Steve did want to point out that putting more than the allotted amount in one car was dangerous; Tony wanted to point out that he didn’t care, just get in the car, Steve).  

It took only fifteen minutes to arrive at the zoo and once Tony had parked the car, they all tumbled out.  Natasha unbuckled Peter and lifted him out of his car seat.  Peter didn’t mind being carried to the entrance, though, so he happily wrapped his arms around her neck and looked around the gate.  

“Where to first, kiddo?”  Tony asked, grabbing a map after they walked inside.

“Penguins!”  Peter said, squirming out of Natasha’s arms and racing down the sidewalk.  Steve managed to snag his sleeve, stopping the boy from running to far ahead.  Peter grabbed Steve’s hand and practically pulled him towards the penguins even though he didn’t know where they were.  

“Ooo!  Cotten candy!”  Clint said, wandering off towards the stand.  Natasha rolled her eyes and pulled him back to the group.  

“We’ll go see the birds next,”  she promised.  Clint reluctantly walked beside her, following the rest of the towards the penguin exhibit.  

When they arrived, Peter pushed to the front and pressed his face against the glass.  He stared, wide-eyed as he watched the penguins waddle around their habitat then jump into the water.  

“Whoa!”  Peter said.  It didn’t take long before he wanted to move on to the next exhibit, though.  Clint reminded him about the hawks and Peter was shooting off down the sidewalk, tugging on Bruce’s hand this time and telling him how they were going to go see the hawks.  

* * *

The zoo had a lot of animals to see.  They hadn’t even made it to half of them when Peter announced he was hungry.  Of course, they stopped their route to the elephants and instead went to find something to eat.  Surprisingly, they found a small stand that sold fries, hamburgers, and corn dogs.  

“Can we see the ostrikes next?”  Peter asked, finishing his corn dog and looking up at Tony.  

“Sure, we can go see the ostriches next,”  he said.  Peter got up from the table but Tony pulled him back down.  “You gotta wait until everyone is done first, buddy.”  Peter frowned but nodded.  He then picked up his napkin and said he was going to go throw it away.  

It was five minutes later when Tony realized Peter hadn’t returned from throwing away his napkin.  He looked around, expecting to see his son looking at the peacocks behind them, but didn’t see Peter anywhere.  

“What’s wrong, Tony?”  Steve asked.  Tony stood up, looking around the plaza again to make sure he hadn’t missed any place.  

“I can’t find Peter,”  he said.  That caught everyone’s attention.  Even if they weren’t finished with lunch, they stood up and tossed the food away.  Deciding to split up in order to cover more ground quicker, they headed off in different directions.  

Tony practically ran towards the ostriches, knowing that’s where Peter had wanted to go next.  When he got there, though, Peter wasn’t in sight.  Tony followed the sidewalk to the next exhibit, searching for Peter in each one but finding nothing.  

Steve and Bruce were having the same luck as Tony.  No matter where they looked, they couldn’t find the five year old.  They even looked under benches and asked workers, but there was no sign of Peter.  Rhodes met them at the cross section in the sidewalks, bringing back to same news.  The three walked down the sidewalk together, looking for Peter in the reptile section but only finding Clint (who looked very nervous next to the anaconda).  

Natasha was certain Peter was nearby.  He couldn’t have gone far and he tended to turn right when at a cross section.  Looking in all the exhibits she came across with each right turn, she finally found Peter next to the monkeys.  He was sitting on the ground, face buried in his arms as he cried.  She rushed over and knelt down in front of him.  

“Peter?  Hey, baby, you’re okay,”  she said.  Peter looked up then hugged her tightly.  Natasha hugged him back, lifting him up and rubbing his back soothingly.  She pulled out her phone, sending Tony, Rhodes, and Clint a text telling them to meet her at the monkeys, she had found Peter.  

They arrived minutes later.  As soon as Peter saw his dad, he squirmed out of Natasha’s arms and into Tony’s.  Tony was more than willing to take him from Natasha, hugging him tightly and kissing his face.  

“I was scared,”  Peter told him.  Tony hummed and rubbed his back.  

“You’re okay now, buddy,”  he said.  

“Can we go home?”  Peter asked.  Tony nodded and headed for the exit.  

By the time they got back to the suburban, Peter had stopped crying.  The ride home was pretty quiet, though.  They stopped for ice cream at McDonald’s halfway to the Tower then all went upstairs to watch a movie.  It wasn’t surprising when they discovered Peter was fast asleep, curled up beside Tony at the end of the movie.  They all quietly said goodbye as they left, but Tony didn’t get up from where he was laying with Peter.  Instead, he asked Steve to toss a blanket over them and he ended up sleeping on the couch with Peter tucked safely in his arms.  


	33. 19 Years Old

Ned couldn’t pin down an exact date, but he knew that sometime during the past week, Peter and MJ had definitely gotten closer.  Ned was sure the two never sat that close before or forgot about him sometimes when they talked.  Yeah, Ned was pretty sure something was up, but he didn’t know what.  He also didn’t really want to ask because, well, it seemed awkward.  

“Hey, we should have a movie night tonight,”  Peter suggested.  They had just packed up and were walking back to their car after a day at the beach.  Peter had a serious sunburn on his shoulders and (to Ned’s surprise) MJ had said she had aloe in her bag, knowing he would forget sunscreen again (again?  The last time they went to the beach Peter had so much sunscreen on he looked like a walking creamsicle!).  

“Sorry, guys,”  Ned said, tossing his bag in the backseat then crawling in after it.  MJ slipped into the passenger seat and Peter carefully climbed in the driver’s side.  “My mom wants me to actually be home for dinner before I leave again.  Maybe tomorrow, though,”  Ned suggested.  

“Okay,”  Peter said, making sure not to lean against the car seat. He started the car and they left the beach, driving to Ned’s house where they dropped him off.  

“See you guys later!”  Ned called, climbing out of the car.  

“Bye, Ned!”  Peter and MJ both replied.  They watched Ned enter his apartment building before driving off.  

“Movie night?”  Peter asked MJ.  

“Of course,”  she answered.  “Star Trek?” 

“Obviously,”  Peter replied as they drove down the interstate to get to Stark Tower.  

* * *

MJ was in the kitchen making popcorn while Peter fixed the movie in the living room.  MJ dumped the popcorn into a large bowl then walked into the living room.  Due to his sunburn, Peter was lying shirtless on his stomach, flipping through the movie options until he found Star Trek.  MJ set the popcorn on the coffee table then went to get the aloe vera she had in her beach bag.  She came back to see Peter talking to Tony. 

“I’m going to the Compound for a few hours,”  Tony said.  He smiled and nodded at MJ who smiled back.  “Bruce wanted me to go check something out and apparently it couldn’t wait until tomorrow morning.”  

“Mkay,”  Peter hummed.  MJ sat down beside him, causing him to glance at her and smile.  “Will you be back tonight?”  

“Don’t know,”  Tony shrugged.  He stole a handful of popcorn, watching as MJ shook the aloe vera before applying it to Peter’s blistered back.  Peter yelped at the cold gel, glaring at MJ.  “You deserve that!”  Tony said, pointing at Peter who glared at Tony instead.  

“Whatever,”  Peter mumbled, dropping his chin down onto his arms and staring up at the screen.  

“If I’m not back by tonight, I’ll be back late morning sometime,”  Tony said.  Peter just hummed though Tony wondered if it was a response or a reaction to MJ rubbing the aloe vera on his back.  He wasn’t going to ask.  “No funny business!”  

“Dad!  Just leave!”  Peter said.  Tony chuckled and walked out of the living room.  

“I love you, kid!”  Tony said, walking into the elevator.  

“Love you too!”  Peter yelled as the elevator doors shut.  As soon as Tony was gone, Peter hit play on Star Trek and told FRIDAY to kill the remaining lights.  

* * *

Okay, so maybe Ned had lied about his mom a bit.  Yes, she wanted him home for dinner, but she wouldn’t have kept him from going out for a movie night.  Ned just wanted to see what would happen if he arrived unexpectedly at Stark Tower.  Maybe he would just find Peter and Tony marathoning Lord of the Rings, but he had a feeling he would find MJ there.  

Ned hummed to himself as he rode the elevator up to the penthouse.  Even though the tower was technically closed (it was almost 10PM), Ned was able to get in with his key card.  Both him and MJ had them so they could come over without Peter having to come down and let them in.  

The elevator singer when he arrived and Ned stepped out into a very dark penthouse.  He frowned, stumbling into the living room where he saw the TV playing Star Trek.  There were blankets on the floor, but he couldn’t make out anyone watching.  

“FRIDAY, lights,”  Ned whispered.  The living room lights slowly came on and Ned wasn’t the only one that screamed.  

“What are you doing here?”  Peter yelled, letting go of MJ who had previously been kissing.  MJ looked a little upset as well, staring abt Ned in shock.  

“What was that?”  Ned yelled back, his voice many octaves higher than usual.  MJ rolled her eyes.  

“What does it look like, brainiac?”  she replied.  Ned looked between the two of them in shock.  

“You were kissing!”  he exclaimed.  Peter gave him an awkward smile and nodded while MJ just looked unamused.  “You were half naked and kissing!”  Peter and MJ both jumped to correct him at that, talking over each other in a rush to get him to understand.  

“My back is sunburned—”

“We weren’t—”

“So I can’t wear a shirt or it burns like—”

“You really think we would do that in the living room?” 

“Hold up,”  Ned interrupted.  MJ and  Peter both shut up, looking at Ned.  “How long have you two been, you know, together?”  he asked awkwardly, waving his hands at the two of them.  Peter glanced at MJ who shrugged.  

“Two or three weeks,”  Peter told him.  Ned stared at them for a little while longer before nodding.  

“Okay,”  he said.  He pointed back to the elevator.  “I’m just gonna go now.  Have fun with Star Trek.”  He hurried back into the elevator, both Peter and MJ watching as the doors shut and carried Ned back downstairs.  

“Well, now we don’t have to worry about how to tell Ned,”  Peter mumbled, making MJ snort. 


	34. 5 Years Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, another request has been completed. Read it below!

Peter was still groggy from his nap.  He rubbed his eyes and sat up in his bed.  His door was cracked open, but he couldn’t hear Pepper in the kitchen.  Curious, he slipped off his bed and stumbled down the hall.  He walked into the kitchen, but it was empty.  A quick investigation of the living room said it was empty, too.  Peter began to get worried and ran down the hall to his dad and Pepper’s bedroom, but it was empty like all the other rooms.  Rubbing his now teary eyes, Peter ran to the elevator and pushed the down button.  

“May I ask where you are going?”  JARVIS asked, opening the elevator doors and letting Peter in.  

“I want to go to Daddy,”  Peter told him.  The elevator doors closed and the lift began to drop slowly.  Peter clung to the rail tightly until the elevator stopped moving and the doors opened.  

“Mr. Stark is down the hall, third door on the left,”  JARVIS told him.  Peter nodded and raced off the elevator.  He didn’t seem to notice as office workers watched him run through the building.  When he found the room JARVIS had told him about, Peter reached up and tugged on the heavy door handle before pushing it open with all his strength.  

Tony was in the middle of an important conference (at least, Pepper claimed it was important; he didn’t see how it was).  The man currently talking sounded like a garbage truck, loud but boring, and Tony was getting a headache.  He put his chin in his hand, resting his elbow on the table and trying not to zone out.  

“So you see—”  the man was interrupted by the door being pushed open slowly.  Everyone turned to see who it was, but Tony could only make out a small tuft of brown curls.  The curls stopped shortly and Tony stood up.  It was Peter in his Iron Man onesie, tears in his eyes mixing with the fear of so many big men in front of him.  

“Hey, buddy,”  Tony said.  Peter’s eyes landed on Tony and he shot towards him.  Tony pulled away from the conference table and Peter nose dived into his lap.  Tony picked him up, setting him on his lap, and Peter wrapped his arms tightly around Tony’s neck.  “What’s up, bud?”  Tony asked.  

“I woke up from my nap all ‘lone,”  Peter told him.  Tony frowned, wondering where Pepper had gone, and kissed his check.  “It’s scary.”  

“Yeah, I bet,”  Tony replied quietly.  “You can stay here if you’re really quiet,”  Tony told him.  Peter nodded, burying his face in Tony’s chest and Tony wrapped his arms around him.  He turned back to the table full of confused businessmen and women.  “You were saying?”  he asked, looking pointedly at the man that had been previously speaking.  The man nodded and started again.  

“So you see—”  he was interrupted once again by the door opening and a very panicked Pepper rushing in.  

“Tony, I can’t find Peter,”  she said.  Peter lifted his head from Tony’s chest at the sound of his name and Pepper let out a relieved breath.  She walked over to where Peter was happily curled up on Tony’s lap and picked him up.  “Baby, you can’t just leave like that,”  she told him.  

“You weren’t there and I got scared,”  Peter said.  Pepper sighed.  

“I was in the bathroom,”  she told him.  Peter let out a small ‘oh’ and Pepper nodded.  “Sorry for interrupting,”  she said, glancing first at Tony then the others around the table.  “Please, continue,”  she told them, carrying Peter out of the conference room and back into the elevator.  

“Pepper?”  Peter asked.  She hummed in response.  “That man had an annoying voice.”


	35. 21 Years Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Peter really grows up in this request! It’s kind of a two part—it’s related to the next chapter, but not directly. Confused? Just read below to get some clarification.

Today was the day.  Yes, sir, today was Peter’s day.  He was going to do it today. It wouldn’t be put off again.  He had been getting sidetracked the past two weeks, but he had made sure his dad and all the other Avengers didn’t interrupt him today, this Tuesday in June.  Today was the day, Peter was sure.  

“Peter!”  Sam yelled.  Peter groaned.  Maybe he wasn’t so sure after all. “I know I’m not supposed to interrupt you because today is ‘your special day’, but I really need you to pick me up some oil for my wings.”  

“Sam—”

”Hear me out!”  Sam interrupted, making Peter groan even more.  “Natasha used it all up on her motorcycle and didn’t tell me and we have to leave on a mission in three hours.  I won’t bug you on the mission, I just really need oil.”  

“Have Dad get it or something,”  Peter said, putting his plate in the sink.  “He’s our at the Compound today.”  

“Already asked,”  Sam said.  “He won’t get it.  Would you please?”  He dragged out the last word and Peter wanted to stomp his foot in anger like he would when he was seven.  

“Fine,”  Peter said.  “But you owe me, Wilson.”  

“Of course,”  Sam said.  “Thanks so much, man!”  Peter just grunted then hung up.  Sam texted him the kind of oil he needed for his wings and Peter grabbed his keys.  Unfortunately, Sam wasn’t the only one who interrupted his day. 

* * *

Peter had gotten Sam’s wing oil, picked up Pepper from the airport (which cancelled his lunch plans with MJ, so she went with him to get Pepper), and helped Ned fix his laptop.  By the time he was done with everything and had decided to put his phone in his bedroom and leave it there, it was nearing dinner time.  Him and MJ were headed back from Ned’s house and Peter was feeling irritated.  Today was supposed to be his day.  

“Hey, how about we grab dinner at McDonalds or something then walk around Central Park?”  MJ suggested, sensing his irritation at his family and friend.  

“Sure,”  Peter said quietly.  He pulled into the drive through if he nearest McDonalds and they order food.  They drove back to the tower to drop off Peter’s card then walked to Central Park and ate their McBurgers and fries.  

“What’s wrong?”  MJ asked as they threw away their wrappers.  Peter had barely talked since Ned’s house, too busy being upset with everyone for ruining his day.  

“Nothing, nothing,”  he dismissed.  MJ agave him a disbelieving look and grabbed his hand.  Peter looked down at their entwined hands; MJ was almost never the one to entwine their fingers.  “It’s just, I told them all today was date day and they weren’t supposed to bother me, but I guess it doesn’t matter because their needs are more important than us having a day to ourselves,”  Peter said.  He immediately felt bad; he didn’t hate them, he just wished they understood that he wanted days to himself sometimes.  

“Hmm,”  MJ hummed, pushing a curl out of his face as they walked around the park.  “And what makes today different than tomorrow?  Maybe we can have our day tomorrow,”  she suggested.  Peter sighed, knowing she was right, but she also didn’t know how long it had taken to get enough courage to go out today.  

“It’s just, I wanted to talk to you about something important and now the day’s been ruined,”  Peter said.  MJ just grinned and tugged gently on his hand.  

“I think if you really want to propose, it doesn’t matter what we do for the day,”  she said.  Peter’s eyes widened and he looked at her in surprise.  She just laughed.  “Oh please, I found the ring in your jacket a week ago.”  

“But... MJ!  It’s supposed to be a surprise!”  Peter exclaimed.  MJ laughed more and shook her head.  

“I don’t care, Peter,”  she told him.  “You could have proposed in the car on the way to pick up Pepper and I still would have said no.”  Peter’s face dropped.  

“Wait, you would say no?”  he asked.  MJ rolled her eyes and turned to face him.  

“You’ll never know if you never ask,”  she answered.  With a shy smile, Peter pulled the ring from his pocket and awkwardly got on one knee.  

“Michelle Jones, will you marry me now that you’ve thoroughly ruined the surprise and made me forget my fancy speech?”  Peter asked.  MJ raised and eyebrow at him and Peter waited earnestly for her to respond.  

“No,”  she said, the small smile on her face giving her away.  Peter gave her a look and she laughed, pulling him up to his feet.  “Of course, loser.  Now let me see the ring I know Pepper definitely did not help pick out.” 


	36. 22 Years Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is also a request that I connected to the last one (sort of). Hope you like it!

If Peter had said at any point in his life he had been nervous, he would like to apologize because he had lied.  He had never known nerves this bad.  It didn’t help that Clint kept mentioning everything that could go wrong no matter how crudely Natasha cussed him out in Mandarin.  Tony was trying to help, but nothing seemed to help.  Peter was almost in tears, pacing in the room as he recited his vows before stopping and turning to Tony with another ‘what if’. 

“Oh for goodness sakes, Peter,”  Sam yelled.  Peter stopped short and looked up at Sam, terror evident in his face as tears looked in his eyes.  “Why are you here?”  Sam demanded.  Peter tilted his head in confusion, but Sam seemed to be waiting for an answer.  

“To marry MJ,”  Peter said hesitantly.  

“Why?”  Steve asked, a lot nicer than Sam had.  

“Because I love her,”  he said slowly.  He had no clue where Sam and Steve were going with this.  

“Does she love you?”  Steve asked, clasping a hand over Sam’s mouth to keep him from saying something unhelpful.  Peter’s eyes widened and Steve realized his mistake.  

“I think so,”  Peter replied.  He turned to Tony, a wild look in his eyes.  “What if she doesn’t?  Oh god, this is such a bad idea!”  

“Oh, she loves you,”  Pepper said, slipping into the room and walking over to Peter.  “Don’t worry, she’s just as nervous as you.”  Clint scoffed and Pepper glared at him.  “Okay, maybe not.  But that’s because she’s being reasonable!”  

“Pepper, I just don’t think—” 

“Ah!”  Pepper interrupting, effectively shutting Peter up.  “Listen, you are going to go out there and get married because you love her and she loves you, end of story.  No more ‘what ifs’.  You’re walking with me down that aisle and you’re going to have the best day of your life, understand?”  Pepper said.  Peter nodded with wide eyes.  Pepper nodded back then grabbed Peter’s arm.  “Let’s go, everyone!”  she called, leading Peter out of the room to begin the wedding.  

* * *

Maybe Pepper was right, Peter thought.  Things seemed to be going okay.  MJ shad walked down the aisle with a smile on her face and looking absolutely m gorgeous, so at least she looked like she wanted to get married.  Vows could have gone better.  Turns out his dad had been right when he said practicing wouldn’t help, he would just forget them anyway.  MJ didn’t have trouble reciting her vows, but she didn’t laugh when Peter stumbled over his.  

All in all, the wedding went well.  Steve had barely said they could kiss when Peter had grabbed MJ and kissed her.  He turned red as everyone laughed, but happily walked with her back down the aisle and into the back room of the church so they could sign their marriage certificate. 

“Go, tiny Stark!”  Scott yelled, leading the group of Avengers into the room.  Everyone yelled their congratulations at MJ and Peter.  

“Didn’t actually think you’d do it,”  Sam admitted.  Peter rolled his eyes and hugged Sam anyway.  When Pepper reminded them they had a reception with other people, they all filed out of the crammed room and hurried towards the reception hall where the food was waiting.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it’s short and I’m really sorry, but I didn’t know how else to continue it and I didn’t want it to get crappy because I wanted it to be longer, so I just left it. I hope you liked it, though!


	37. 4 Years Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mean, are you really surprised it’s another request? Hope you enjoy it!

Happy Peter is something Tony can deal with.  He knows how to keep him happy.  Scared Peter he’s okay with; cuddle him, promise everything will be okay, and he’s fine!  Screaming, angry Peter is a whole different story.  Tony had never seen this side of Peter and after asking JARVIS what the actual hell was going on, he was informed Peter was having his first temper tantrum.  

“First?”  Tony breathed.  “You mean there’s gonna be more?”  He didn’t have time to listen to JARVIS’s response as Peter hit his knee and let out a scream of frustration.  

“Meanie!”  he yelled.  Tony sighed and squatted down to look at the kid. Peter had tears streaming down his face and a frown engrained on his lips.  

“Peter, you have to calm down, buddy,”  Tony said.  Peter screamed at him and Tony closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before opening them again.  “Use your words, please.”  

“No!”  Peter screeched.  The elevator dinged, alerting Tony that Pepper had (finally) arrived to help him out.  She hurried over to them and sat on the couch by Peter.  

“Hey, whats going on, Peter?”  she asked.  Peter glared at Tony and crossed his arms, turning his back to his dad.  

“Daddy’s being a butt head,”  Peter grumbled.  Pepper glanced at Tony, looking slightly amused at Peter’s choice of insult.  

“How so?”  Pepper asked.  Peter sniffled as more tears fell down his cheeks.  

“He’s making me go to bed because I’m sick,”  Peter answered.  Pepper sighed and looked at Tony who nodded, confirming Peter’s story.  Pepper picked Peter up and put him on her lap.  She grabbed a Kleenex from the coffee table and wiped his nose.  

“Would it make you feel better if you got to sleep in the living room until Daddy and I go to bed?”  Pepper asked.  Peter thought for a moment then nodded.  “Okay.  Let’s go get your blankets and pillows then change into some jammies,” she said, standing up with Peter still in her arms.  

Pepper walked down the hall to his room and helped him change into his Iron Man onesie before taking the blankets off his bed.  Peter grabbed Jeffery, his stuffed koala, along with his pillow and followed Pepper back into the living room.  Pepper set up a bed on the couch and Peter climbed right in, snuggling under the blankets and cuddling Jeffery.  

“Now, you have to go to sleep or we’ll take you back to your room,”  Pepper told him.  Peter nodded and closed his eyes.  Pepper ran her fingers through his hair for a few minutes then stopped once she was sure he was asleep.  She joined Tony in the kitchen, smirking when she saw him drinking coffee and looking exhausted.  “It’s all about compromise, Tony.”  

“Yeah, yeah,”  he said, wrapping an arm around her waist.  “Have I ever told you how amazing you are?”  

“Once or twice,”  Pepper replies.  “But I wouldn’t mind hearing it again.” 


	38. 16 Years Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally getting this request done.  Sorry it took so long!

Missions were Peter’s favorite part of his weekend.  That is, if there were any.  Peter was forbidden from going on missions during a school week, so that meant he could only join the fun Friday night-Sunday.  Rarely would any bad guys wait until the weekend to strike, though, so Peter was often left to do homework while his dad went with his uncles and aunt on some epic mission.  This weekend, however, Peter was able to join in the fun.  

“Suit up, Pete,”  Tony said, tossing the Spider-Man suit to Peter as soon as he had run out of school.  “We’ve got a shoot-out in Times Square.  Looks like they got their hands on some alien tech, though.”  Peter didn’t need to be told twice.  He was dressed and ready to go by the time Tony parked the car just outside of Times Square.  Tony called the Iron Man suit to him and a minute later, both Iron Man and Spider-Man were at the scene.  

“Look who finally decided to show up,”  Steve said, walking over to Tony.  

“Sorry,”  Tony said.  “Traffic jam.”  Steve rolled his eyes and told Tony they had set up a perimeter three blocks back, now all they had to do was get the three hostages away from the men with dangerous weapons.  “Sounds easy enough,”  Tony said.  

“What should I do?”  Peter asked.  Steve glanced at Peter, hesitant to give him a job but also knowing he would break the kid’s heart if he didn’t.  

“Help Natasha get the hostages out while Clint, Sam, and I distract the men,”  Steve instructed.  “Tony, make sure NYPD don’t surround us; we want them to stay back.”  

“You’re the boss,”  Tony replied before shooting up into the air.  

Peter found Natasha hiding behind a building near the hostage site.  He slipped up beside her, making sure not to surprise her, and peered around the corner.  Natasha pulled him back, hissing at him not to be stupid.  

“Sorry,”  he whispered back.  

“Just wait for my signal,”  she told him.  Peter nodded and together they waited in silence.  Suddenly, Natasha nodded at him and raced around the corner where the hostages were.  She jumped on the man walking around them, strangling him so he couldn’t make a sound then tying him up.  Peter untied the hostages and helped them stand.  He picked up the little girl and was running back around the building when he felt something hot cut through his arm.  He screamed, dropping the girl who raced off after the other two hostages and to safety.  

“Peter!”  Natasha yelled, turning around at his scream.  Peter looked down at his arm to see his suit charred and burning from where the weapon had cut through.  His arm was badly burned and beginning to bleed, making Peter woozy at the sight.  

Natasha snapped the neck of the man who had hurt Peter without second thought.  She turned and ran to Peter, letting Steve and the others keep the remaining men too busy to focus on the kid and Natasha.  

“Peter, look at me,”  Natasha said, yanking off his mask as she knelt on the ground beside him.  Peter’s head rolled over to look at her but his eyes remained tightly closed.  “Peter, I need you to open your eyes and tell me what 7 times 4 is.” Peter opened his eyes and groaned.  

“12?  No, that’s not right,”  he said.  Natasha frowned and told Tony to get over and help her take Peter to the medical bay.  “Aunt Tasha, my arm really hurts.”  

“I know,”  Natasha said.  Tony dropped down beside him, mask flipping up so he could look down at his son.  “He needs to get to Bruce.”  

“On it,”  Tony said, carefully scooping Peter up in his arms the flying as fast as possible back to the tower where Bruce was. 

* * *

Peter felt awful.  His arm hurt, his head hurt, and to make matters worse, he was pretty sure he had needles stuck in his arms.  With a groan, he forced himself to open his eyes.  He refused to look down, knowing he would find long needles pushed into his veins, once he realized he was in the medical wing of the Tower.

“Dad?”  he asked, spotting Tony sitting beside him.  Tony jumped up and leaned over Peter, making sure he was alright before calming down.  

“You got hit by one of their weapons,”  Tony said.  “Bruce managed to stitch you back together, but we weren’t sure if you were gonna be okay for a while there.”  Peter smiled lazily. 

“I’m always alright,”  he said.  Tony rolled his eyes and shook his head.  

“Not when you’re flatlining,”  he retorted.  Peter frowned but didn’t have time to say anything else before Tony got up to let the others in.  They all swarmed Peter, asking if he was alright and making sure he knew how sorry they were.  

“I’m fine!”  Peter said for the fourth time.  “I’d be better if I was upstairs watching Lord of the Rings, though.”  He glanced at Tony as he said this, but Tony just shook his head.  

“I’m afraid you’ll be spending the night, Peter,”  Bruce said, pushing through the crowd of Avengers to stand beside his bed.  “Don’t worry, though.  I’m sure we can manage a movie night down here.”  

“Fine,”  Peter agreed.  “But can you please take these needles out of me?”  Bruce nodded and Peter looked away while he pulled the IVs out of Peter’s arms then tucked them away.  Tony found Lord of the Rings on the TV in the room and selected the third one.  Everyone got comfortable on either the floor or a chair as Bruce turned off the lights.  

“Are you sure you’re alright?”  Tony asked as the movie began.  Peter gave his dad a look and Tony raised his hands in surrender.  “Just making sure.”  

“Well be sure because no talking during movies!”  Sam said, glaring at Tony.  Peter grinned and Tony sat back in his chair.  He would deny it to his grave, but he watched Peter the entire time instead of the movie.  There was just something about hearing your son flatline that made you need to watch him constantly. 


	39. 25 Years Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now, for the chapter you have all been waiting for since the last ‘25 Years Old’ chapter (found out MJ is pregnant)!

Tony wasn’t expecting FRIDAY to wake him up at 2:37AM with an urgent announcement.  He had hoped he would be getting a full night of sleep, but when did things ever go perfect? 

“Sir, it appears Mrs. Stark-Jones has gone into labor,”  FRIDAY said.  If Tony was planning on responding, it wouldn’t have mattered.  It was seconds after FRIDAY had delivered her message when Peter’s voice was relayed through the speakers.  

“Dad! MJ’s in labor!”  he said, panic evident in her voice.  “I’m gonna go to the hospital.  Just, you should probably drive because, well—”

”Can you please drive us to the hospital?”  MJ’s voice asked.  “Peter’s freaking out and I’m in labor.” 

“Meet me in the garage,”  Tony said.  FRIDAY hung up the phone call and Tony stumbled out of his room, phone in hand as he pulled a shirt over his head.  He quickly texted Steve, telling him MJ was in labor and they were headed to the hospital.  

When he got to the garage, he saw MJ with her hand on her very pregnant belly calmly standing by the car while Peter fussed over every small thing.  Tony saw her grimace slightly and grip her stomach and Peter freaked out.  

“Are you okay?”  he asked.  MJ glared at him then relaxed once she saw Tony running towards them.  

“I’d be better if you weren’t so panicked,”  MJ told him.  She climbed in the backseat and Peter slid in next to her.  Tony sped out of the garage, getting them to the hospital in record time.  The tower’s medical bar didn’t readily supply OB/GYN’s, so they had to go to the NYC Hospital.  

“Hi, my daughter in law is in labor,”  Tony told the receptionist.  She nodded and called for a nurse to take them back to a room.  Peter stumbled after MJ and the nurse, baby bag in tow, while Tony just chuckled and followed him. 

* * *

Tony had to leave the room when Steve texted him saying they were in the waiting room.  He was mostly thankful for an excuse to leave.  Peter was an absolute mess and MJ wasn’t the most pleasant to be around when a contraction hit, so he happily went into the waiting room to be with the other Avengers.  

“Labor on Midgard takes so long,”  Thor said after seven hours.  Everyone just nodded, not willing to ask how long it took to have a baby on Asgard.  Thor told them anyway and they turned him out.  

“Family to Peter and Michelle Stark?”  a nurse asked, looking around the waiting room.  When all the Avengers stood up, she stepped back a bit and smiled nervously.  “If you would like, you may come see the baby now,”  she told them. They all nodded eagerly so she led them down the hall to MJ’s room.  

Tony was the first one to enter the room.  He spotted the bundle of blankets in MJ’s arms and hurried over to her, looking down at the baby in her arms.  They had refused to tell anyone the gender or name they had chosen, so of course that was the first question asked by the others.  Tony and Peter were too busy staring into the brown eyes that belong to the tiny human.  

“Meet Anthony James Stark,”  MJ said, shifting so the others could admire the baby too.  “We’ve decided to call him AJ, though, so things don’t get too confusing.”  

“I want to hold him!”  Natasha said first, raising her hand.  The others groaned as she hurried forward and sat on the bed.  MJ carefully handed AJ to her and Natasha smiled at him.  “You are too cute!”  she cooed, booping his nose.  He just blinked.  

“Grandpa’s turn!”  Tony announced.  He gently took AJ out of Natasha’s arms and bounced him carefully.  “He’s perfect,”  Tony said, looking up at Peter and MJ.  He felt tears prickle his eyes and knew the others could see them, but no one said anything.  

“Rhodey’s turn!”  Rhodes exclaimed.  Reluctantly, Tony passed AJ to Rhodes and beginning the game of pass the baby. 


	40. 8 Years Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the original idea was Tony take Peter, but I changed it up a bit. I hope that’s okay!

Peter could hardly contain his excitement.  He had woken up at 6:02 AM and promptly woken up his dad.  Tony was less than thrilled about being woken up so early in a Saturday, but once he realized Peter wasn’t going to leave him be, he got up so Peter wouldn’t wake up Pepper.  

“Alright, kiddo,”  Tony said.  He paused to yawn, picking up his coffee and taking a sip before continuing.  “Steve will be here in ten minutes, he’s taking you out to breakfast since you’re up so early.”  

“Yay!”  Peter cheered.  Tony took another sip of coffee.  

“Go get dressed,”  he instructed.  Peter shot off into his room to change while Tony stayed in the kitchen, slowly forcing himself to wake up.  

By the time the elevator alerted them to Steve’s arrival, Tony was awake and Peter was all packed up.  Steve had just barely exited the elevator when Peter jumped into his arms for a hug.  Steve chuckled and hugged him back.  

“Hey, Peter,”  he said.  He took Peter’s backpack from Tony who was now on his second cup of coffee despite being awake.  “Ready to go?”  Steve asked.  Peter nodded vigorously.  

“He’s been ready since you brought up the idea four days ago,”  Tony said.  Steve smiled as Peter pulled on his shoes then jumped to his feet.  “Have fun, stay safe, all that.”  

“Bye, Daddy!”  Peter said.  He quickly hugged Tony then got in the elevator behind Steve.  

“Bye, kid,”  Tony said, waving until the elevator doors closed.  As soon as they shut, he stumbled back down the hall and back to bed.  Two cups of coffee wasn’t enough. 

* * *

After having breakfast at a local cafe, Steve and Peter drove to the New York Yankees stadium.  Steve had bought them both seats so they could easily see across the whole field (maybe Tony had upgraded them) but Peter was just happy to be there.  

“Who’s that, Uncle Steve?”  Peter asked, pointing at a man on the field.  “Who’s that?  Ooo!  Who’s that?”  Steve couldn’t honestly say that he knew.  He knew one was the red, another was just a maintenance worker, but the other looked like a new player.  Lots of things had changed since his last baseball game in this stadium.  

“I guess we’ll have to wait and see,”  Steve said, sitting down beside Peter.  He handed Peter a corn dog even though they had just eaten breakfast an hour earlier.  

“I’m excited,”  Peter said before biting into his hot dog.  Steve just smiled at Peter who sat on the edge of his seat, already captivated by the workers out on the field. 

* * *

Steve was disappointed at the turn out of the game.  Peter, on the other hand, couldn’t be more excited.  He talked to Steve about the game the entire walk back to the car and all the way up to the penthouse.  Steve didn’t mind, though.  He was just glad Peter had enjoyed the game.  Sam wasn’t a baseball fan and going alone wasn’t very exciting.  

“And then he just—it was so cool,”  Peter said, walking off the elevator.  Steve nodded and followed him inside.  “Daddy!”  Peter yelled, running towards the couch and jumping up beside Tony.  

“Hey, buddy,”  Tony said, wrapping his arm around Peter kissing his head.  “Did you have a good time with Uncle Steve?”

“Yeah!”  Peter nodded vigorously.  He began to tell Tony all about the game while Steve helped himself to the leftover spaghetti in the kitchen.  Peter wasn’t hungry; still full from the corn dog and breakfast bed had earlier, but Steve had a faster metabolism than him and was more than willing to finish off the spaghetti. 

“Sounds like you had lots of fun,” Tony said once Peter had finished telling him all about the game.  “What do you tell Uncle Steve?”  

“Thank you for taking me, Uncle Steve,”  Peter said, climbing off Tony’s lap to give Steve a hug.  Steve chuckled and hugged him back.  

“Thanks for going with me, kid,”  he replied.  “I would have had to go alone otherwise.”  Peter shook his head, a determined look on his face.  

“You’ll never have to go alone again!”  he declared.  “I’ll go with you every time!”

”I’m sure you will,”  Steve said.  


	41. Announcement

Hey, guys! So I wanted to mark this book as complete so more people can find it and it doesn’t have like 100 chapters that all get mixed up and stuff.  I will be starting another book just the same as this titled Growing Up 2.  All requests that have not been done yet but we’re out in will show up in the next one.  So check it out since this one is complete! Thanks!


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